You're Quite the Little Firecracker
by eskimoelena
Summary: When Elena Gilbert's father is convicted of crimes against the vampire government, he is given two options - death or give his only daughter as a blood donor to the governor. When Elena is forced to let this new, mysterious vampire drink from her, it takes her on a journey she doesn't quite expect.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi darlings! Long time, no see but life's been getting in the way. C'est la vie, you know? On top of that, I've been writing this! I know I just started a new story (This Kitty Has Claws) and I'll probably continue that at some stage, but I just wasn't feeling it, y'know? And an idea for this story had been swirling around my head for ages. It's the kind of story is the kind of story I would love to read. It focuses more on the vampire thing, but it's not following the TV show or books or anything. (Although I may have taken some ideas, like the whole decree etc from the Hunger Games. Sorry Suzanne Collins :P) So yeah! It's different to the kind of thing I usually write, so bear with me. I've rated this T but there is blood drinking and all that vampiric stuff, but nothing too graphic, I think.**

**So yes, I'll stop blabbering. Enjoy! **

**x**

**By way of punishment for the way the humans of Mystic Falls treated the vampires in the Dark Ages, as of introduction of this decree, the town will be broken into two parts – the Shire, where vampires shall reside and prosper, and the Pail, where humans shall reside. Any human found in the Shire at any time without permission faces prosecution. The town of Mystic Falls shall be ruled by a government elected by vampires. Any human(s) found making an attempt to rebel against these rules shall be prosecuted and may face execution. However, by way of repentance, these convicted humans may offer up either themselves or a member of their family to serve as a blood donor to a vampire lacking one. The court holds the right to determine if this is an option after they review each case.**

I nibbled on my already chewed down nails, pacing back and forth. My mother watched me sadly from the worn down kitchen chairs, fiddling with her chipped mug. "The court might find him not guilty." She murmured hopefully and I rolled my eyes.

"The police caught him in the middle of trying to break into the government building in the Shire Mom, with detailed documents about how he was going to take down the vampires, along with information that he stole from the head of the whole thing. I think they'll say that he did it."

Mom said nothing and I felt a twinge of guilt. I knew that this whole thing had been as stressful for her as me – there were now permanent bags and deep purple rings around her eyes. She was a lot thinner too, and her hair was limply shoved behind one ear. I knew I should have comforted her but I couldn't take being in this tiny house anymore. "I'm going for a walk." I muttered, slamming my mug onto the counter but before I could slam the door, I heard her say quietly "Be home for the verdict please sweetheart." I ignored her but the nerves were making me want to vomit.

I stormed out of the house and down our street. In reality, the Pail wasn't so bad – it could be a lot worse. The entire place was _grey_, which I couldn't stand. Everywhere you looked was claustrophobically bleak and sad, which just made me want to scream. It had been bearable at least, until about a half a year ago, when Dad started getting all of these uprising ideas and Jeremy started acting out and Caroline…no. Caroline was too painful to think about, plus, as Dad had told me over and over again, she was a traitor. At least she had got out though – that was one thing we had vowed to do. Now I was stuck here on my own and she was…she was out there, with someone to love and probably a big house with maids and servants. I was here, and what prospect for the future did I have? I knew everyone in the town, and I would be damned before I married any one of them. I'd have to live with my mother until she eventually died, and live in the house, that awful house and scrape by with a job in the tiny shop – I didn't allow myself to think of alternatives. I kicked a stone absentmindedly and it rolled back to me.

I glanced up and realised I had walked to the border of the Shire and the Pail. A small wall divided the two, but it wasn't the wall that kept us out of the Shire – it was the fear. I peered into the bustling town and couldn't help but be dazzled (as I always was) at how beautiful the city was. It was crafted with the richest of materials, and fancy shops lined the streets. The odd vampire passed by -although I made sure to duck whenever one did because didn't want them to notice me – and they all wore expensive clothes that I was sure cost twenty times the amount that my few raggedy dresses did. I watched for a little while, allowing myself a break from the constant anxiety. It was only when I noticed a man in a grey suit making his way towards the wall, carrying a briefcase. His brow was creased and he kept glancing at his watch. I instantly knew that this was a government official, and the only reason why he would be coming here…

I got up and ran, ran as fast as I could through the cracked streets and tiny, sagging houses until I finally reached our little bungalow. I flung open the door to find Mom waiting in the hallway, terror etched on her face. She relaxed a little when she saw it was me, and pulled me inside, but not before glancing out behind me.  
"He's…he's coming." I gasped, chest heaving from lack of air.  
She immediately began flapping about. "Should I make tea? The house, tidy the house!" She began to straighten the few ornaments we owned, along with diving into the cupboards to find the duster. I watched as the man came nearer and nearer, ignoring the people pressed up against their windows, watching his every step. He was handsome – pretty much all vampires were – with sandy brown hair and a not completely unkind expression. His eyes were the most hypnotising part about him, but this was nothing new – all vampires had intense eyes, they needed to so they could compel you.

He looked a little startled when he saw that the door was open and I was staring at him but he carried on down our barren garden and stopped a little away from the door.

"Mrs. Miranda Gilbert?" He asked me, seeming a bit taken aback by the fact that I was only twenty and Dad was about forty five. Mom pushed past me, and I was proud to see her draw herself up to full height and glare at him stonily, speaking in her most confident voice. "I'm Miranda. How may I help you?"

The man looked her sympathetically, and pulled a sheet of paper from his briefcase. "I regret to inform you," He said softly. "That your husband, Grayson Gilbert, has been convicted of rebelling against the government and is subsequently facing the death sentence." All of Mom's confidence drained from her body and she leaned against me for support. "The…death sentence?" She whispered, more to herself than anything else. I knew what she was thinking – even if Dad was a bit useless sometimes, he did provide the majority of the money for this family. Without him…we were in a bit of a mess.

"When's the date?" I asked the man roughly and he looked grim and the pit of despair in my stomach grew even deeper. "Well, there's been a slight…offering, shall we say."  
I felt Mom tense but the man carried on regardless. "Your father was offered the option to sign away one of his family for six months as a blood donor to the man who he originally stole the information from. He agreed."  
_This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening…_  
"He agreed to sign away his only daughter, a Ms. Elena Gilbert." I felt myself go weak at the knees. Obviously I didn't want Dad to die but I couldn't believe that he had just…just _signed me away_. Mom was shaking her head vigorously.

"No." She insisted hysterically. "You're not taking her away, not while I'm here. I won't let you." "Mom…" I whispered numbly, knowing she was only going to make things worse.  
She looked at me wildly. "No Elena! You're not going to be a blood bank for these _animals_! I'll go for her, she's just a child!" The man frowned at her and glanced down at his little fact file. "Our records tell us that she is twenty years of age, which is well over the legal blood donor age."

"Don't you dare call her a donor!" Mom screeched at him while I focused on keeping myself upright. "Donor implies that it's _voluntary_! And none of us will _ever _volunteer to give our blood to you filth!" And she spat on him.

I winced as I saw the anger grow in his now blazing eyes. "M'am, if you don't want to be locked up like your husband is, I suggest that you calm down _immediately_." He snarled and I caught a glimpse of his now extending fangs.  
Mom paled a little and didn't say anything else. The man shot her a final glare and turned to me. "You're coming with me. You'll be staying with your new…well, you'll be staying with him tonight and then you may come home tomorrow night. He'll instruct you further after that." He instructed irritability, and panic and bile rose in my chest. I had to leave right away? I hadn't even considered this an option. "Can't I just say goodbye first?" I asked desperately and he rolled his eyes. "Hurry." He snapped through gritted teeth before stomping to the end of the garden.

I turned to Mom, with huge eyes and shivers running up and down my body. "We don't have much time, so you listen to me sweetheart." She said urgently, holding my face in her hands. "I love you so much, and you can do this. You just need to show them that you can't be compelled and you won't _ever _give in, do you understand me?"  
I nodded, trembling and she kissed my forehead before reaching into her pocket and producing a necklace, a pretty silver heart with a long silver chain. It was beautiful in fact, and looked extremely out of place in the dullness of the room. "This," She whispered, doing the clasp around my neck. "Is filled with vervain. As long as it is touching your skin, no vampire can mess with your mind." I stared at her in confusion – what was this vervain stuff, and more importantly, how did she know about it? But she put a finger to her lips and suspicions crept into my mind that Dad wasn't the only rebel with secret information.  
I let my fingers drift to the cool metal now sitting just between my breasts and felt some courage flow into me. I could do this – I had to. "Tell Jeremy I love him." I said shakily and she smiled sadly. "And he loves you. I'll see you soon my sweetheart." She gave me a final hug and then the man was stomping back down the broken path.

"Come on then." He demanded and Mom gave my hand a final squeeze before I had to take a deep breath and let go of her to follow him outside.

The cold air stung my cheeks – I hadn't noticed it before. The man reached into his briefcase and pulled out a pair of handcuffs and I felt lightheaded again. "Hold out your wrists please." He said emotionlessly and I obeyed. He fastened them and locked them in place, although not before I felt one of his cool fingers linger on my wrist, on my vein. I shivered, and this seemed to snap him back to reality, because he turned and began to walk briskly down the street. My cheeks burned with embarrassment as I kept on unintentionally catching the eyes of all of the neighbours watching at the windows. Some were shaking their heads in pity, others looked openly horrified. I looked at the ground, determined not to cry.

I glanced up when we got to the border and saw a big black car was waiting for us. The vampire of course didn't bat an eyelid at the sight of the vehicle but it only reminded me further of what I was walking into. He at least had the manners to hold the door open for me while I slid into the back, before slamming the door so hard that the car shuddered. It was silent for a moment until the vampire slid into the passenger seat and the driver pulled away smoothly.

Panic rose in my chest as I watched as the Pail disappeared from view. _Don't show fear_, I reminded myself. The vampire's phone beeped and he glanced at it, frowning. "There's been a slight…change in plan." He told me, looking at the phone weirdly.

I glanced up hopefully, allowing myself a brief flash of belief that I would be set free. But no, the vampire just mumbled something under his breath to the driver, who gave him a funny look but kept driving, much to my disappointment.

"You're now being transferred to a different vampire as a donor, as opposed to the man your father stole from. Do you understand?"  
I nodded numbly. It didn't really matter who's 'donor' I was – I was still going to have to let someone else drink my blood. The thought sent a shiver through my spine and I had to will myself not to burst into tears. At least, I consoled myself, this vampire mightn't be old – anyone who was head of a government had to be old right? I had been guaranteed an at least 50 year old if I had the original guy. Now…well, maybe the tables would turn in my favour.

We drove for another fifteen, tense minutes. I sat with my forehead slumped against the window, unable to believe that everything had been ok – well, as ok as they could be – a few hours ago. Now my entire life was going to be turned on its head. I couldn't even distract myself with the fact that the Shire was rushing by – I just slumped down lower and lower until I was hidden from sight.

After driving a little while down a leafy winding road, we turned into a long driveway. At the top of it stood one of the most beautiful houses I had ever seen. It was a mansion, with huge windows and a massive front door and – I kid you not – a fountain sat in front of the whole thing. It was beautiful and I allowed myself to be temporarily distracted before we drew to a halt and the churning feeling came back again.

The vampire got out of the car quickly and I squeezed my eyes shut, desperately hoping that for some reason, he wouldn't open my door. He did of course, and stepped back. "Out of the car." He snapped impatiently and with shaky (and handcuffed) hands, I undid my seatbelt and slid out of the car as slowly as possible. The vampire glared at me and grabbed my wrist and led me to the door of the house. "Behave." He hissed before ringing the doorbell and I swear to you, I had never felt more anxious than when the door started to open. When the person was revealed however, I could only stare.

He was a few years older than me – maybe 25, 26? He had the most incredible cheekbones, a smug smirk that looked like it had never left his face, and his _eyes. _I had seen beautiful vampire eyes, all of them had them, but never had I seen such piercing, intense blue eyes, lined with coal black lashes and now looking at me so intently that I was positive he could read my mind. They were hypnotising too, the kind of eyes you could just get lost in. They were…compelling. Oh my God. I quickly tore my gaze away from him and looked at the floor. I wouldn't let him control my mind, I _wouldn't_.

"This is the girl?" He asked and his voice was a silky purr that felt like it was curling around me in a snuggly hug. "It is sir. I understand this is her first time being a donor so –" "Take off the handcuffs. Her father's a criminal, not her." My vampire interrupted. The man's expression soured but he clicked the handcuffs off me, and I rubbed my wrists gratefully.

My vampire was looking at me very intensely. "Tyler, you're free to go." He told the man beside me dismissively who hesitated but then turned on his heel, got in the car, slammed the door and drove away. And then we were alone.

I kept looking at the ground until I felt a cool finger gently tilting my head up until I was forced to look him in the eye. "First timer, huh?" He murmured, making my heart thump, although I wasn't exactly sure if it was because of fear. I nodded silently and he released me. "Well, I'm Damon Salvatore. You're Elena Gilbert, if I'm correct?" Another nod from me. He regarded me quietly before gesturing into the house. "You'd better come in then. The sooner we can get your first time over with, the better."  
I was beginning to feel faint at this stage, but I forced myself to take steady (ish) steps forwards into the warm exterior of the house. It was as beautiful inside as out, with classic furnishing and chandeliers all over the place. I would have complimented him on it, but I wasn't sure what I was allowed or not allowed to do and on top of that, I didn't trust my voice to work properly.

He led me into a lightly furnished sitting room and I realised what was going to happen next. My neck, his fangs. Oh God, I wasn't ready for this. I must have been getting paler and paler because he was looking at me with slight concern. I began to tremble on top of that and he sighed before gently nudging me down onto a chair.

"Hey, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." He soothed silkily, although I could see his eyes start to get darker as he looked at me hungrily. This could only mean one thing. I couldn't do this, oh God. But then something weird happened. He was looking at me incredibly intensely, and I was feeling a bit star struck but nothing else. Confusion flashed across his face and then he began to laugh, sitting back.

"You're a tricky one." He chuckled in a velvety voice, and I felt even more and more on edge. What on Earth had I done wrong now? And more importantly, was he going to punish me or something?

But he did nothing, other than look amused. "Where is it then?" He asked, temporarily losing the hungry look in his eyes. I stared at him, completely bewildered. He focused in on my necklace and gave a knowing little 'ah'.  
"Who gave that to you?" He asked, a little too curiously. I didn't say anything, not wanting to get Mom in trouble. He sighed and sat back.

"The Governor wouldn't be too pleased if he knew one of your kind knew about our intolerance to vervain." I caught the undertone of my threat in this, wrapped up in his silky purr and I felt my hatred for all of these people grow. "So I'm going to repeat, Ms. Gilbert. Where did you find out about it?" I could tell that he was serious too. He really would tell the governor about this and then my family and I would get in trouble, and that was something I did not want. Better be in trouble with Damon than him. So I was left with no other option that to answer.

"My mom gave it to me." I whispered and I realised it was the first thing I had said to him. He looked slightly surprised that I had actually answered him and held out his hand. "Can you give it to me please?" With fumbling fingers, I unclasped the cool necklace and dropped it into his outstretched palm. He examined it carefully, turning it over in his fingers.  
I waited jerkily, wondering if he was going to give it back. Mom would kill me if I came back tomorrow night and had lost the single piece of protection I had.  
"I'm going to keep this until tomorrow night. Then I'll give it back to you." He murmured and I knew it wasn't an offer – it was a statement. He glanced up at me from under his black eyelashes, and my heart did that incredibly annoying thing where it began to quicken, again not from fear but something else.  
"I'm not going to compel you to do anything you wouldn't want." He said softly, and I wanted so badly to trust him but I knew I never would. He saw my expression and slipped the necklace into his pocket.  
"When did you last eat?" He asked suddenly and I instantly tensed, becoming defensive. Truthfully, it was yesterday afternoon but that was because Dad was in jail so we didn't have any extra money for food. We had two meals a day – breakfast and lunch, the same as everyone did in the Pail, so it was never a point of embarrassment that you didn't have money there. But vampires from the Shire were a whole different story. They had their donors and on top of that, they had about four meals a day along with heaps of money to spend on whatever they pleased. So I didn't answer him, determined not to let him think that we were weaker than he already thought we were.

He regarded my stony silence for a few moments before standing up and I flinched back, which he ignored. "Come on then. I'll make you something to eat. Blood isn't as rich if the person is hungry." He disappeared out of the room and I got the impression I was meant to follow him, so I stood up shakily and followed the general direction he had gone.

I emerged in a massive, beautiful kitchen. It was light and airy, with huge glittering windows, and a black and white colour scheme. Damon was standing mixing something on the island counter in the centre of the kitchen. He looked up and saw me pretty much cowering by the door. "Sit down." He said, gesturing to a chair beside the island and I hesitantly made my way over to it, perching on the very edge. "I don't just live here on my own, by the way. My brother lives here as well, with his wife. They're away on a trip for a few days though." I nodded numbly, not even caring at this stage that I was going to be surrounded by vampires. I was in as much danger with one as I was with twenty, so really, what was the difference?

Damon poured whatever he was making into a dish and I couldn't help but inhale. It smelled fantastic, like tomatoes. I was guessing that the ingredients that went in there cost more than our family's collective pay check. He slid the dish into the oven and then looked at me, not saying anything. His eyes were making me dizzy again, and I blinked quickly before he spoke. "From now on, I'd like you to eat here if that's ok."  
I bristled, glaring at him. "Why would I do that?" I snapped and something flashed across his face before he answered calmly. "I told you before. Blood tastes better when the human is full, and by the looks of it, you're not full very often." This was true but I hated the way he said it with _pity_, which is probably why I responded so aggressively.

"It's not your responsibility to feed me." I hissed, standing up.  
"No, but I'm the one who'll be feeding from you, so I'd prefer if you were fed. Besides, you'll have more money at home; you'll only have to feed two, not three." This only made me angrier but I had to admit that he was right. There would be more money at home, a lot of it and God only knows we could use some of that. Judging by the smirk on his face, he knew he had won which was only aided by the now ringing timer and my rumbling stomach.

"You know, there are some vampires wouldn't let you eat." He told me as I picked at the dish of some pasta thing he had given me. I glanced up at him.  
"But you said –"  
"I know what I said, and it's true, blood tastes richer when the human is full, and I personally prefer that. There are some vampires that don't. They get off on the fact that the human is dying."  
I stared at him, horrified.  
"But that's awful!" I cried and Damon shrugged.  
"Usually they compel them so that they don't really know what's going on. They're a minority though."  
I pushed away my plate, feeling sick. He looked at the plate in silence for a moment and then stood up and I realised what was coming next. "You're full then?" He asked softly and I nodded slightly, because truthfully I was; that was the most food I had eaten in years, but I couldn't even focus on that – the room was starting to spin a little.

"Hey, hey, it's ok." He said soothingly, very lightly touching my forearm. I resisted the urge to yank it away and focused on my breathing as much as I could. "Elena, look at me." I didn't of course, until I was pretty much forced to when he gently tilted my chin up so his blue eyes were piercing into me. "I'm not going to hurt you." He murmured in a velvety voice as he pushed the hair off of my shoulder. I felt like a deer caught in the headlights as I stared at him, totally freaked out as his eyes began to darken and his fangs began to grow and I cursed myself for realising how _sexy _he was with the whole vampire thing going on.

"Tilt your head back darling." He purred silkily and I felt obliged to do as he asked, tilting so my neck was exposed. "There's a good girl. This might feel like a little pinch but then it'll be over…" As he came closer, my heart began to beat faster and I felt him put a hand on my back to steady me. "You're ok, I've got you." He murmured in my ear and I shivered as I felt his sharp teeth graze down my neck before finally settling on a spot. Then he bit down.

It was like two sharp needles piercing my skin – I winced but found it wasn't as excruciating as I had thought it would be. Now that the pain was over…it was…well, it was dizzying for one thing. His hands were twisted in my hair, his lips on my neck and I was in a daze. He was drinking deeply and at some stage, we both ended up back in the sitting room and on the couch. He was getting gentler at this stage, his grip on me loosening slightly and his gulps slower now. Eventually he pulled away completely, although not before running his silky tongue over the two little bite marks.

I stared at him, my head spinning. He looked a little dazed as well, but quickly collected himself, a small smug smile appearing on his face. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" He purred, brushing a stray bit of hair from my face. My fingers drifted to the two tender marks on my neck. It was a bit hard to comprehend what had just happened. I winced as my fingers brushed over them – they were still sore, obviously.

Damon watched me carefully and I realised he was probably waiting for me to say something. Then I think he noticed the colour completely draining from my cheeks and the last thing I saw was his concerned face before I blacked out.

"Elena? Elena!" My head was thumping and whoever was calling me was making it worse. I felt two fingers pressing against my neck – taking my pulse I supposed. I heard a sigh of relief and then a gentle shake of my shoulder. "Elena, open your eyes. I know you can hear me." I groaned and let my eyelids flutter open to see those gorgeous ice blues staring down at me in concern. I blinked, realising I was lying on the couch. "You're still pale as a sheet." He murmured quietly and I suddenly realised how close we were to each other. There must have been something wrong with me today – first I let him drink my _blood_, for crying out loud, and now I was letting this _vampire _stand a few inches away from me?

"I'm fine, I'm fine." I mumbled, sitting up and immediately regretting it. The entire room spun around, making me want to throw up. But I soldiered on, willing my legs to carry me as I stood up. "Elena, don't be ridiculous –" I shook my head faintly and took a few shaky steps towards the door. This was a bad idea. I squeezed my eyes shut trying to find my centre of gravity but I knew it wasn't going to do much good. My knees were beginning to give way but just before I crumpled in a heap on the floor, I felt his strong arms wrap around me, catching me.

"Come on princess, you're too weak to walk." He murmured, half leading, half carrying me back to the couch. I slumped back down unwillingly into the soft leather, flinching when he came close to me. "Stay…stay away from me." I muttered and he sat down at the furthest edge of the couch, before sighing. "You need blood, Ms. Gilbert." He murmured and I managed to stop my head spinning for just long enough to glare at him.  
"In case you haven't realised, I _had _blood. Then _you _drank it all." I spat acidly. He ignored this and held his wrist to his mouth before biting down quickly and then holding it out to me. I stared at him in alarm, inching away as the bright red drops of blood began to appear. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I yelped and he sighed.

"You need to drink some of my blood to steady yourself. Just a little bit." I cringed at the thought but my head was still spinning, but I would _never _do that. "I'll be fine." I mumbled, and he rolled his eyes.  
"Stop with your damn morals and _drink_ Ms. Gilbert. You need it."  
I shook my head, stomach churning and something flashed across his face.

"Why not, Elena?" He challenged suddenly, moving closer to me on the couch. I winced at the movement, which made me even dizzier.

"I'll tell you why - because that's the one thing we do and you don't and that's the one thing you pride yourself on not doing, the one thing that makes you better than us. Well you'd be best getting off your high horse because you need my blood and either you'll take it willingly or I'll force you." I stared at him, a bit startled because it was true– this was what made the two of us so different. He did…_that _and I didn't, and much as I hated to admit, it was exactly the reason I considered myself _better _than him. But he needed it too, didn't he? The same way I needed food – or his blood right now.

He was still glaring at me, wrist still outstretched. I looked at the droplets of blood hesitantly. He could see me wavering and his voice dropped to a silky, coaxing purr. "Just a few mouthfuls, you don't have to worry about anything. There's a good girl, don't even think about it…" I was lifting his wrist to my mouth, squeezing my eyes shut as I did so. "Now drink." He murmured and I had to obey, taking hesitant sips at first before drinking more deeply.  
The blood, as much as I hated to say it, was making me feel a lot better. When I finally felt back to normal, I dropped his wrist like it had burned me, horrified at what I had just done.

Before I could begin panicking however, I heard the front door open and then a male voice calling "Damon! We're home!" Damon frowned, standing up. "Stefan shouldn't be home until tomorrow." He said, half to himself and half to me.

He didn't get a chance to say anything else to me though, because a tall, sandy haired man with warm green eyes was stepping into the room and I had to stare at him because I _knew _him from somewhere, I just couldn't for the life of me think from where. He smiled at me sweetly and I smiled back, racking my brain as to where I would have seen him before. Damon's next question answered this for me.

"Is Caroline with you?"

I remembered.

_"Caroline, you can't just go like this!" I cried desperately, trying to grab her arm as the rain poured down on us. The pretty blonde shook her head, her curls tumbling everywhere. "I love him Elena, and I really thought you of all people would understand. I have to be with him and I'm sorry." We were coming closer to the border now, too close for my liking. "What about me?" I begged, tears streaming down my face. "Your friends, your family? Do we mean _nothing _to you anymore?" This caused her to stop, with a pained expression on her face. "I just can't stay here anymore Elle." She whispered, tears beginning to drip down her face no mingling with the rain. "So what – we'll just cope, will we? You're too good for this life and I'm not?" I snapped and she shook her head. "Of course not Elena! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry but –" I glared at her so fiercely that she stopped. "Enjoy your new life with your leech." I snarled before turning to run. She called after me and I only looked back once, but that was when I saw a young man appear beside her, putting an arm protectively around her and watching after me with soft green eyes._

Caroline.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi darlings! I have to go really quickly, so this will be short but if you're reading this, thank you so much! The story had great feedback and it was so lovely to see I had a new follow or review. So thank you all, so much. Y'all are literally my favourite people in the world, and you just light up my day! So thank you - and enjoy!**

As if on cue, a small girl danced into the room, blonde curls around her face, framing her pretty blue eyes. "I'm baack!" She sang, waving shopping bags in the air before noticing me.

The bags fell to the floor with a thump, the contents spilling out onto the floor. I stood up shakily as she stared at me with wide eyes.

"Elena?" She whispered and I caught Damon and the other vampire – Stefan, if I remembered correctly – were exchanging glances.  
"You two know each other?" Damon asked uneasily. Caroline turned her doe eyes to him. "She's your donor?" She asked faintly and I felt a surge of anger.

"Oh Caroline and I go way back, don't we Care?" I hissed, taking a step towards her. I noticed Stefan tensing slightly, preparing to step in front of her and I glared at him.

"Caroline can fight her own battles, can't you Care?" I growled and Caroline winced. "I had to tell your _family _that you ran off with a vampire." I snarled, taking another step towards. "Do you know how much that hurt them? Do you understand that your mom didn't leave the house for two weeks, and your dad is half the reason mine's in jail?"

She was flinching at every word, and I was glad. I had spent too much time hurting ain herself. Ne and now it was time for a little pain herself.  
"What happened to you?" She whispered, staring at me and I shook my head in disbelief at her sheer ignorance.

"I toughened up Caroline!" I shouted at her, bitterness coursing through my veins. "While I was in the damn Pail, working my _ass _off to do whatever I could to make sure we had food, you've been strutting around in here, getting new clothes and never having to worry if you would have a next meal! You'd have turned bitter too if you were me! I had to stop _caring _about everyone but my family Caroline, because you can't let yourself worry about other people because you're so caught up worrying about your family!"

"Elena, I didn't realise things had got so bad." She said tearfully but I was not having any of this bullshit. She could cry all she wanted; I was never going to forgive her. I took a few steps towards her, snarling. "How could you have realised? You never checked, you total –"

"Ok, that's enough of that." Damon interrupted, pulling me away from her. I turned on him, eyes blazing, all ready to start yelling at him too but the look on his face stopped me. "What did you _do _to her Damon?" I heard Stefan asking and Damon glanced up. "I drank from her, but then she was faint and she needed blood. So I gave her some of mine."

Stefan groaned. "Damon, you know that makes them edgier than normal! No wonder she's angry!"  
I turned around, prepared to scream at him too before Damon grabbed me again. I tried to shake him off, but judging by his chuckle and my complete lack of movement, I wasn't going anywhere.  
"Calm down princess." He murmured in my ear, causing me to temporarily be distracted from my rage and shiver with how close he was to me.

"I'm sure that you want nothing more than to beat Caroline up right now, but you're not going to. You can fight later, when my blood has gone out of your system, alright darling?"  
His voice was soothing but threatening at the same time, letting me know that if I didn't stop, there would be consequences and I relaxed a little in his arms, though not fully.

Caroline was looking at me with a terrified expression, clutching Stefan's arm. Words could not describe how much I wanted to slap her in the face and I was strongly considering my best tactics for this, when I realised there was something…_different _about her. I squinted to make sure that it wasn't just my mind playing tricks on me, but I was as good as positive. My father had taught us how to tell when someone had been changed.

"You're a vamp…you're one of them?" I whispered, horror coursing through my veins. Leaving her family was one thing, but this…this would just break their hearts. She put a hand to her mouth, a sob escaping as she hurried from the room.  
Stefan glanced at me and I was surprised to see that there wasn't any annoyance or irritation at me in his eyes, only a kind of _pity_.  
"She's missed you, you know." He said quietly. "You were her main regret – that she left you behind." I didn't really know how to reply to this – it didn't change the fact that she _did _leave me behind. So I didn't reply and Stefan sighed and followed after Caroline.

Damon huffed and released me. I didn't make any movement to run or anything though – I just kind of stood there, looking at the door.  
"You're quite the firecracker princess." Damon told me, sounding half amused and half irritated. I glared at him and he laughed. "I like you Ms. Gilbert." He chuckled, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. "It's like you completely forget that I could rip you to pieces in front of your family."

I stared at him, alarm bells going off in my head, and he smiled sweetly back. He suddenly focused on my neck, and gently touched the wound, causing me to wince. "That looks a bit sore." He murmured and I was a bit freaked out by his mood swing from dangerous to caring. "I'll grab you a plaster." He said seriously, before disappearing into the kitchen, leaving me extremely confused by this man unlike any other I had met before. I hated to say it, but it was pretty…enticing, shall we say, how passionate he was. You just didn't get guys like that in the Pail and I imagined it was pretty unusual to get them anywhere else as well.

He reappeared a minute or two later with a little box, and opened it to produce a little heap of medical stuff. "Sit down." He instructed while shaking a bottle of clear liquid. I did – hesitantly mind – and he poured a little bit of the liquid onto a cotton ball. "This might sting a little." He murmured before gently wiping the cut with it. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from crying out– a sting I could handle, but this was _hell._ He smirked when he was finally finished and had smoothed a plaster on the bites.

"That'll heal in a few days. In the meantime, I think you should get some rest. It's late for little humans like you." I stared at him blankly. Rest? I had been presuming that I would have stayed up all night or something. Where was I going to rest for God's sake? It wasn't like he was giving me a – "You bedroom's upstairs." He said as though reading my mind. When I didn't move, he rolled his eyes. "I'll show you where it is then.

I looked around the room, a bit…confused. It was _nice_, with emerald walls, a fluffy carpet and crisp white linen sheets on the single bed. The window showed the black sky, dotted with twinkling stars. It looked comfortable and soothing and I hated the fact that it was nicer than my room at home. I let my fingers skim along the smooth pine drawers, wondering how much they had cost.

"You get some sleep. There are pyjamas in the drawers and Caroline and Stefan are just down the hall if you need anything." Damon turned to go before glancing back at me. "Oh and Elena," He purred but I caught the threatening note in his voice. "Don't do anything stupid."

I gingerly did up the last button on the soft silky pyjamas I had found –they had been beside the brightly coloured underwear, which I realised, since I didn't have any spare, I would have to wear tomorrow. They were incredibly luxurious and felt like heaven against my skin. I inhaled the smell of fresh cotton as I sat down on the bed wearily. This whole thing was too weird. I could have handled being treated badly, but not this. This was a lot harder to get my head around.  
I found my eyelids drooping shut and I crawled underneath the sheets. They were warm and comfy and cool against my pounding head and pounding neck. _You'll be home tomorrow, _I reminded myself. This was the final thing I needed, and I let my eyes shut fully and drifted off into a deep sleep.

The first thing I became aware of was that I was not in my own bed. I sat up quickly, eyes snapping open as I took in my surroundings. Then it all came flooding back to me and I lay back with a sigh. My tatty dress was hung neatly on the back of the chair and my scuffed shoes were side by side opposite the bed. They looked so out of place in this expensive room and I realised I hadn't even remembered to be embarrassed by them yesterday.

I cuddled back down and had nearly fallen back asleep when the door swung open, revealing a rather dishevelled looking Damon. He was only wearing pyjama bottoms – no top. And oh my, did he look good. I had known obviously, that he was muscular but I hadn't known about the perfect but not too grossly defined six pack. He had a hint of five o clock shadow and his hair was tousled. I forced myself to stop staring for long enough to realise he was holding a tray.

"Breakfast time for the human." He smirked, putting the tray on the chair. I glanced at it and saw it contained a home cooked meal of toast, sausages, rashers and a little bowl of fruit salad.  
"Thanks." I muttered, dragging my hand through my hair as I sat up.  
"There's a bathroom just down the hall if you want a shower or anything. But eat your breakfast first – it'll go cold."

I smiled tiredly at him, swinging my legs out of bed and pulling the tray closer to me. "Thanks Damon." I mumbled and he took this as his cue to leave. As soon as the door shut, I sighed, pushing the tray away again. I was still stuffed from last night's meal- I couldn't handle this eating three times a day thing.  
I stood up, wandering to the window and peering out. Clearly the grounds of this house were massive – there was lush green grass for as far as the eye could see. I tried to open it but found it was locked – surprise, surprise. Giving up, I grabbed my dress and shoes and quickly pulled a pair of underwear (pink) from the drawer and went to find this bathroom. I could at least cost him money by using all of his money, right?

After I had got over my initial shock of the bathroom and how it was pretty much the size of my entire house, I managed to get the water going on the ridiculously complicated shower. It had about 60 different options to give you your perfect shower – I just went with the basic one. I stripped off my pyjamas and stepped under the hot water, allowing it to calm me down. Even the basic shower felt like magic on my tense muscles. I managed to find soap and shampoo and conditioner and used them carefully, avoiding my bite marks. I realised with irritation that I was going to be covered in bite marks for the next six months.

The shower turned off automatically after five minutes. I had the option to continue but instead just stepped out, wrapping one of the many fluffy towels around myself. I washed my face and brushed my teeth before pulling on my clothes quickly. I didn't like being naked in someone else's house.

I was about to leave, just tying my damp hair into a bun, but I noticed a cupboard half open, and glanced inside. It was a hairdryer, and I realised exactly how rich this family was. In the Pail, hairdryers were only talked about, scoffed at mainly, due to their ludicrous price. We all let our hair dry naturally, and while most had short hair, I had kept mine long. But now I had the option to blow dry it. I touched the smooth plastic lightly. It couldn't hurt, right?

I stared at the new and improved Elena in the mirror. My hair was sleek and straight, falling in a smooth waterfall down my shoulders. I ran my hands through it and found it was soft, soft as a kitten. If this is what all hairdryers did, I understood why they cost so much money! My skin was glowy too – I was guessing they had some special soap, and the dark rings under my eyes were partially gone. This was weird. I shook my head and turned away from the mirror, not liking how I was turning into _their _version of me. I slipped on my shoes, comforted by their familiar softness. I took a deep breath and left the bathroom, turning a corner and crashing into…Caroline.

"Elena!" She sounded surprised, taking in my new, polished appearance. I rolled my eyes and went to push past her but she grabbed my arm. Bad idea. She realised this and released me quickly but the damage was done. I glared at her.

"What are you going to do Caroline?" I challenged. "_Force _me to listen to you? I mean, you do have super human strength. So go on. Make me listen to you. Heck, compel me if you feel so inclined." Caroline dragged a hand through her hair, looking desperate.  
"How many times do I need to say I'm sorry?" She whispered and I wanted to shake her. I controlled myself however, and spoke in a strained voice. "You can say it until you're blue in the face Caroline. Forgiveness isn't going to happen."  
This time, I did push past her and she didn't try to stop me. Before I could start the descent down the grand stairs, I heard her call after me.  
"Not everything's as simple as you think Elena." She said softly and I turned to glance at her but she was gone. God, that girl was weird.

Just as I reached the bottom stair, Damon appeared in the massive entrance. "I was wondering where you had gone." He purred, looking me up and down as he took in my appearance. Then he noticed my flushed, angry cheeks and frowned. "Are you ok?"

I ignored this, and went to walk past him. He wasn't having this though – he grabbed both of my arms, much like Caroline, only this time, he didn't let go. He pulled me so I was only a few inches away from him, his minty breath tickling my nose and his piercing eyes bearing into mine so intently, I could swear he was reading my mind.  
"Do not disrespect me, do you understand?" He murmured and I nodded faintly. He held onto me for a few more seconds, just looking at me before finally letting me go and turning abruptly into the kitchen. "Did you eat your breakfast?" He asked over his shoulder. When I didn't answer, he sighed and handed me a bowl of something. "It's a special broth, full of extra vitamins." He explained as I swirled the watery liquid. "I figured that you wouldn't want to eat anything heavy."

I stared at his back, surprised he had thought to consider this. "Thanks." I muttered, hesitantly lifting the spoon to my lips and found it was easy to swallow, considering how sick I felt, He nodded approvingly as I slowly made my way through it, smirking once it was fully gone.

"You slept ok, I presume?" He purred as he took the bowl from me and I shrugged. He rolled his eyes as a maid scurried out and took the bowl from him. I stared after her, startled by her small frame.

"She's…she's not one of you." I said quietly, more to myself but of course he heard. He snorted. "Of course she's a human. You think vampires are willing to clean up for other vampires?" I couldn't take my eyes off her retreating back. She had olive skin, with warm blue eyes – not a combination you got in the Pail. But then where could she be from? All of the humans lived in the Pail, which meant I knew pretty much every one. So who was this girl?

Damon noticed my intense stare and raised an eyebrow. "It's just…she's not from the Pail, so where could she be from?" He stared at me.  
"Elena, you do know that there are plenty of humans in the Shire too." He said and I turned to glare at him. He was so _irritating _sometimes. Humans living in the Shire, what nonsense!

"You ran all of us out of the Pail." I snapped. His brow furrowed as he looked at me, and I saw something flash across his face.

"That's what her father's been telling them." He murmured to himself. His eyes flicked to me and I crossed my arms definitely. This snapped him out of his trance and he laughed.

"Well, that solves one mystery, doesn't it?" He chuckled, taking a step towards me. "What else has your father been saying about us, hm?" I stared at him, beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. All of the stuff Dad had said was true…it _was _true, right?

He saw the hesitation on my face and smirked triumphantly. "Look at you. Even the daughter of a rebel can't trust her own father." This caused me to forget my doubts and I glared at him.

"Of course I trust my father! He's a good man – the complete opposite of you!" I snarled, stepping towards him. Damon laughed but there was an angry glint in his piercing eyes.  
"What's the use of being a good man if all it does is get you put in prison?" He growled and his words felt like a slap across the face.

"Your governor was the one who put him there!" I hissed and I saw…was that amusement on his face? He had lost the predator stance and was now smiling lazily.

"The governor didn't just toss him in jail for nothing princess. He committed a _crime_."  
"Well, what about all the crimes you've all committed?" I cried, feeling all of the anger I had repressed for so long bubbling to the surface. "What about the times when vampires have killed children, mothers, fathers, _humans_? Where was the governor then?"

His expression hardened. "They were dealt with, Ms. Gilbert." He snapped and I scoffed. This only seemed to enrage him more, because he laughed furiously, running a hand through his raven black hair. "He's brainwashed you." He muttered furiously and I had to stop myself from slapping him.

"Take me home." I demanded and he rolled his eyes, turning away from me. Fine. _Fine._ I stormed out of the kitchen to go back to my room. Just as I passed through the hallway however, I realised the front door was slightly ajar. Not much – just a little, but enough allow me to sneak out without making any noise. I glanced behind me – the coast was clear. This was it. My chance. I needed to take it.

I tiptoed out into the fresh air, inhaling deeply. I knew that I didn't have the time to hang around – I needed to get moving. I hurried lightly down the steps and quickly onto the grass, so I wouldn't make noise crunching down the stone driveway.

I _ran,_ sprinting faster than I ever had. The huge gates came into view, and thankfully they were open. I kept glancing back over my shoulder to make sure Damon wasn't coming after me but nobody did. And then…_finally _I was out, running down the path lined with other houses. And then suddenly…I hit a bustling street. It was lined with boutique shops, and vampires strolled past me casually. The odd one turned to glance at me curiously but I was mainly ignored. Nobody came and tried to rip my neck out anyway. This was it. I was in the centre of the Shire. And now I had to find a way back home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi lovelies! Again, sincerest apologies for being so late with this chapter but I've been so so busy :( Anyway, this chapter isn't an extremely eventful one - more of a filler, if you will but I still dearly hope that you enjoy it. The main character in this chapter is Elena and I hope that's ok! Even still, we'll be seeing a lot more of our favourite couple in the next chapter. So until then - stay lovely darlings!**

**x**

I hurried quickly down the street. Every so often, I caught glimpses of the price tags in the fancy boutique shops and was astounded again and again at how much money these people both had and spent. I glanced back over my shoulder again, positive I would see Damon sprinting towards me. He wasn't in sight, but I knew he wouldn't be far off. A small side street caught my eye and I veered off into it, just hoping there wouldn't be someone waiting to mug me.

Thankfully, the street led into a busy market, lined with shop stalls. This was far busier than the last street, and seemed a lot less snooty, although I was guessing there wouldn't be anything too cheap here either. The little stalls were brightly coloured, selling everything you could imagine, from toys to food to clothes. I slunk down behind them, trying not to catch anyone's eye. I was in a place filled with vampires, all of whom could kill me in a heartbeat. This did not aid my already shredded nerves.

A cool breeze whistled through the air and I shivered. My thin dress wasn't cut out for this kind of weather. I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder and I spun around, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. An older woman – vampire – with salt and pepper hair and warm amber eyes was smiling at me.

"Are you ok pet?" She asked, her voice gentle.

I took an automatic step back, positive this was some plan to get me into a dark room to kill me or something. She took in my tattered dress, my wide eyes and my defensive stance and nodded knowingly.

"To get to the Pail, you need to continue on down this street, take the first left and then follow down through there. You'll get to it soon enough dear."

I said nothing, just watching as she gave me a final smile and turned away, walking in the opposite direction. I was tempted to run after her and thank her but I didn't want to draw any more attention to myself.

By the time I had reached the end of the street, I had decided on my plan. I would hide in the woods beside the Pail for a day or two, so I wouldn't be found at my house. Then I could visit, take food and hide out again. My main problem was I didn't have any food for the days before I went back to my house. I knew I would survive – I had gone without food before, it could happen again but I knew it would be best to keep my strengths up. I had been stupid to not eat the breakfast Damon had given me, and to prove this point, my stomach grumbled.

Suddenly a bright yellow stall caught my eye. It was selling fruit and vegetables and loaves of bread which all looked delicious but it was the sign on the front that got my attention. _We accept blood payments._

Before I could stop myself, I was hurrying over to the stall. A pretty young woman was perched on a stool, flipping through a magazine. She looked up and smiled when she saw me.

"May I help you?" She asked, her voice clear and sweet.

I swallowed and licked my lips.  
"What's...what's a blood payment?" I asked hoarsely and she shrugged, putting down her magazine. "Basically you give me blood instead of money. Not too much obviously. We wouldn't want you to faint!"

I hesitated. I needed food, I knew did...but did I trust this stranger who happened to be a vampire? She saw my expression and sighed, sitting back.

"Look kid, it looks like you need it. So just take what you need. Don't tell anyone mind – I don't want a line of people wanting free stuff at my stall."

I stared at her. Maybe she hadn't actually thought I would take it but I was from the Pail and you didn't just turn down an offer of free food. "T-thank you." I stammered and she smiled and handed me a plastic bag. I shakily put a loaf of bread and a few apples in it before thanking her again and carrying on my way quickly.

I continued the way the woman had told me to go, a bit confused by the amount of kind strangers I had met today. Vampires weren't meant to be kind to humans – they were meant to use us and spit on us and take our blood. Not give us directions or free food. I looked up and froze. The fence that separated the Pail and Shire was in sight.

I broke into a sprint, clutching the bag of food close to me. I was going to make it, I was finally home...but then someone grabbed my arm, pulling me to a halt and purring in my ear. "Not so fast princess."

Oh God, he was going to kill me. He really was, I could feel it in my bones. Would he hurt my family too? Why had I been so _stupid? _

"I'm impressed you managed to get this far." He murmured as my heart thudded erratically. "But still, not exactly a clever idea, trying to get away from a vampire. I thought you were smarter."

"Let me go!" I snarled, struggling to get out of his grip. He snorted before spinning me around, forcing me to look into his piercing blue eyes.

"Some vampires would drink you dry if their donors tried to escape." He said with a hint of threat in his voice as he brushed a strand of my new silky hair out of my face.

"So go on then."I spat, glaring at him. "Kill me."

He seemed to consider it but then smirked. "I think I'll keep you for a little bit longer." He purred and I felt my heart sink. He suddenly focused in on the bag of food and frowned.  
"Who gave you that?" He asked, holding out his hand for the bag. I held it tightly, determined that I would somehow get this home.  
"I don't know. Someone at the market." He raised an eyebrow, retracting his hand.  
"Let me guess. You want to give it to your family?"  
I didn't reply and he rolled his eyes. "Fine. Let's go then." He let go of me and began to walk into the Pail. I stared after him in horror – he couldn't go in there! He'd end up causing an angry mob or something – at best.

He realised I wasn't beside him and I could hear his sigh even from a few feet away. He turned around slowly, as though it was physically paining him to do so.  
"What's wrong now?" He asked through gritted teeth. I looked at him like he was mad – of course he knew what was wrong! "You can't go in there!" I hissed, and he rolled his eyes.  
"You'll find that I can in fact. Besides, I have a letter to give to your mother." This changed everything and I froze. He produced a sealed envelope from his jacket and I had to fight the urge to snatch it from him.  
"Who's it from?" I asked suspiciously, taking a step towards him. He laughed and put it back into his coat.  
"That's for me to know and you to...dot dot dot." He winked smugly and I wanted to slap him. But my curiosity got the better of me and I had to follow him.

"How do you know where I live?" I snapped, a bit freaked out when I realised that he was going the exact way to my house.  
He rolled his eyes and kept walking. I felt more and more sick as we came closer. It eventually came into sight and he glanced at me with..._pity_. My cheeks burned red as I saw the old bungalow in a completely new light – the grey paint was peeling from the walls, the wood splintering from the door. One of the few windows was cracked and slates were missing from the roof and I _hated _him for making me feel embarrassed of my own home.

The door was flung open suddenly and Mom appeared, running into the front garden. She froze when she saw who was with me though and her expressions flashed from fear to anger to blankness.

"Elena sweetie. Are you ok?"

Before I had a chance to answer, Damon stepped forward, pulling the letter out of his pocket. "From your husband." He said emotionlessly and she grabbed it from him, tearing it open and reading it quickly. Her face dropped and she looked up.  
"What's this?" She whispered and I saw Damon was fighting hard to control the urge to roll his eyes.  
"That is a letter written to you by Grayson Gilbert, your husband."  
"This...this isn't my husband...it can't be." She whispered, the colour draining from her face. Damon raised an eyebrow.  
"It is. If I were you, I'd be pleased. He's making sure that you can't be blamed for any of it."  
"By separating from me!" Mom screeched and I felt a jolt in my stomach. Dad wanted to split up from Mom? If there was one thing that I was certain of, it was that those two loved each other. Or so I had thought. What was it that letter?

"I need to see him. I need to see Grayson." Mom was saying over and over.  
"That's not allowed Mrs. Gilbert, you know that." Damon's voice was quiet but the threat was obvious. Mom's wild eyes flicked to me.  
"What's happened to you?" She spat, and I winced. I didn't get a chance to answer though, because Damon did it for me.  
"She got food and rest, two things that are seemingly lacking in this house." Mom's face turned puce and she reached out to grab my wrist. Then she saw my neck, in its bandaged glory and she literally went crazy, releasing me and springing at Damon, screeching and attempting to scratch him. "Mom!" I cried, wondering if she had a death wish as I hurried over to try and wrench her from him. Not that I wanted to help him obviously –I wanted to help _her. _Damon was standing pretty much totally still, looking down at her in vague disgust. I managed to get a grip of her arms and pulled her off of him.

"Get a grip!" I hissed at her, holding her arms behind her back because I wasn't sure if she would try and go at him again. But she didn't – she only turned to stare at me.

"Why are you sticking up for him?" She asked, sounding both hurt and confused and leaving me feeling like a knife was slicing through my heart. Damon caught sight of my expression and smiled smugly.

"Your daughter is worried you'll hurt me." He purred and I turned to stare at him. He caught my eye and smirked, continuing on to my mother, who now looked horrified.

"I've compelled her. Everything you do, everything you _say_, she'll tell me. Do you understand?"

I suddenly understood what he was trying to do and I shook my head in horror.  
"Mom, no, of course that's not true!" I objected desperately, spinning to face her.

But the damage was done. She had stepped away from me, looking at me with open suspicion. I turned to glare at him but he simply grinned at me.

"I'll pick you up in the morning at 8.00 Elena. Be ready please." With that, he was gone, striding off back towards the Shire – leaving me alone with my fuming mother who now thought I was a total traitor. She shot me a look of total disgust, turning on her heel and striding back into the house.  
"Mom!" I cried, trying to grab her sleeve.  
"I can't deal with you right now Elena." She snapped, pulling on an apron and beginning to fumble around looking for something to cook with. That was when I remembered the crumpled bag in my hand and I cleared my throat hesitantly, offering it to her. She didn't take it, but regarded it with slight disinterest.

"It's food. I got it in the market." I whispered and she scoffed, rolling up her sleeves.  
"I don't really want food from t_hem_, thank you very much Elena." She muttered coldly. To my extreme annoyance, I felt a lump form in my throat.  
"Right." I said quietly, swallowing furiously. "That's...I'll just be in my room."

She didn't reply, and I put the bag down on the worn table carefully before slowly making my way to my tiny room, where I curled up in a ball on my thin mattress – I had to admit that it felt horrendous after spending the night on one of Damon's luxurious spare beds...I shook my head. _No_. I wouldn't think like that. I hated him. I hated all of them, and I would spend as little time interacting with them as possible. Otherwise – well, God only knows what the people of the Pail would do to me. Certainly not welcome me back with open arms anyway. What had I been thinking, even _talking _to Damon? Well, I would start again tomorrow – if I even went at all.

I let my eyes drift shut and slowly, comforted by the steady whistling of the wind outside; I fell into a deep sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello lovelies! Two chapters in one week? Y'all are spoiled! But I'm on a week off so I've been able to get a bit of writing done. I'm not positive when the next chapter will be, but no more than a week or so.**

**This chapter contains no Damon (sorry!) but mainly Elena being a BAMF. I had so much fun writing this chapter, so I hope you like it! Y'all are actually so lovely, and seeing your reviews makes me smile. Honestly, you are all so sweet and just agh! I love you so much. Y'all are the best readers a girl could have :')**

**Talk soon darlings,**

**x**

"Elena, wake up!" Someone was shaking me. I groaned and opened my eyes to see Jeremy glaring down at me. "What do you want?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.  
"You need to get up. There's...someone at the door for you."  
I sighed and rolled out of the bed with a thump. Jeremy rolled his eyes and left, leaving me alone to stumble blindly around my room looking for a jumper to throw on. I realised I hadn't even changed into pyjamas last night; I had just slept in my dress. Brilliant.

I eventually found a thin black cardigan and slid it on, before dragging a brush through my still silky hair and shoving it back in a messy bun. Whoever wanted me at 6.00am was seriously deranged, so I figured they wouldn't care if I was a mess.

"Are you serious?" I snarled when I walked into the kitchen and found Caroline shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. She winced and that was when I realised Stefan was there too. Great. I was sure Mom would be totally thrilled with me – three vampires in the house in the space of two days? Daughter of the year award, here we come.

"Get out of my house Caroline." I snapped, storming to the door and flinging it open, not so subtly hinting that she had to _leave_. Caroline hesitated before speaking.

"I used to be in and out of here all of the time." She whispered and I had to count to ten to allow the rage I was feeling die down just a little.

"You also used to be a human, but that's changed too, hasn't it? Besides," I glanced at Stefan, who was standing beside the cupboards, looking at me with a weird kind of sympathy. Much as I wanted to, I couldn't make myself hate him. For whatever reason, he seemed...nice. But I couldn't let them know that. "_He_ was never here. Neither of you are welcome Caroline, so just go."

She shook her head, and I wanted to scream at her. "What do you want for God's sake?" I snapped, and her lower lip wobbled. No. She wouldn't dare to...

"I'm sorry; you're just the only person who I knew could help me!" She wailed, tears beginning to flow down her cheeks. I seriously contemplated just leaving the house myself, because I could not deal with this crazy vampire this early in the morning. Stefan apparently realised this and stepped in, talking over her sobs.

"Caroline was wondering if you would be so kind as to help her talk to her family. They still live in the ...on this side of Mystic Falls. Correct?" I stared at him. He was crazy, they all were.  
"Why would I do that?" I challenged, waiting to see what glorious reason they would come up with. I owed them maybe? Or so that he wouldn't kill my dad? I couldn't wait.  
He shrugged, glancing at Caroline. "There's no reason to." He said softly. "It'd just...well, it'd help us out. Caroline and I are getting married, and I've always wanted to meet her family."

I stared at him. _Married?_ I mean Christ, I didn't know what I expected from them but marriage had certainly not been one of those options considered.  
"You're only twenty. I mean...marriage?" I protested weakly to Caroline who gave me a watery smile.

"I'm going to be twenty for a good while longer now that I'm a vampire." She whispered. Oh right. Vampires don't age and all that. That was weird – I realised, in twenty years, I'd be forty. But Caroline would still be twenty.

I was snapped out of my thought process when I noticed Jeremy standing in the doorframe, glaring at our visitors with such fury that even I felt a bit concerned.  
"Get out of our house!" He spat, his voice pure acid.  
"Jeremy, just go back to sleep." I sighed tiredly, not able to deal with a rebellious brother as well as the rest this morning. His wild eyes swung to me, looking at me like I was crazy.  
"She's a traitor Elena!" He hissed. "A total traitor! You shouldn't even be talking to her! You should be calling Alaric, and getting him down here with vervain and flaming torches!"

Oh no. I was just going to pray that he hadn't just said that, but judging by the horrified look Caroline was giving me, along with Stefan's far more curious expression and the fact that he was now slipping his hand into his pocket and pulling out a cell phone, it hadn't been my mind playing tricks on me.

"Alaric? Alaric Saltzman?" Stefan asked, his voice far too casual. "What's he got to do with anything?"

"No! Nothing, I don't know what he's talking about!" I squeaked in a high pitched voice as I lovingly shoved Jeremy from the room, although not before he could cry "The Liberation Militia will win!" It was at that point that I slammed the door in his face. I was going to _murder_ him later. What the hell was he thinking, screaming about a rebel organisation which our father _was in jail for being a part of_, when there were two vampires in the room? And then there was the whole issue _with _Jeremy. Much to my mother's and my horror, Jeremy had begun taking an active role in the LM since our father's arrest. Every chance he could get to talk about it, he did and I _knew _that it was only going to get him in trouble.

Caroline and Stefan were staring at me. "He's just...high." I offered desperately and Caroline nodded encouragingly. What was freaking me out was that she knew what was going on – I had confided to her all about the LM about a year ago. (When she was still human obviously.) But judging by the glances Stefan kept giving her, she hadn't told him a word about it and I had to, extremely begrudgingly, feel a little grateful to my once best friend.

"So, can you help me out with my family?" Caroline asked quickly and I nodded hurriedly, both of us attempting to distract Stefan whose fingers were still hovering over the keyboard of his phone.  
"Yes! Yes, come on, let's go!" I squeaked, yanking on my worn down shoes and as good as running out of the house. Caroline grabbed Stefan's hand and dragged him out too, allowing me to slam the door behind us. Nice bit of teamwork from us.

I glanced around and realised with a jolt that the entire neighbourhood were pretty much pressed against their windows, glaring at me. "Oh God." I muttered, pulling the cardigan tighter around myself and stomping down the street. Caroline and Stefan trotted quickly after me, exchanging glances. I could practically hear the insults that I was positive were being hissed after me.

"Don't they have anything better to do at 6.00 am?" I snarled to myself as we turned a corner and nearly bumped into an elderly woman.

"Mrs. Spinelli, I'm so sorry!" I cried, grabbing her arm to stop her from falling. She grinned at me, her green eyes twinkling and her toothy smile warm. Mrs. Spinelli was at least 80, an impressive feat in the Pail. She was tiny, about 4 foot 11, with curly white hair and a voice that crackled like a fire. "Don't worry about it dearie." She smiled, patting me on the arm before noticing Caroline. I braced myself, ready for any kind of reaction but she only smiled mildly.

"Hello Caroline dear. I haven't seen you in a while."  
"Mrs. Spinelli!" Caroline rushed forward to shake her hand and as soon as their skin touched, I could see the switch flip in Mrs. Spinelli's head about Caroline and the vampire. But, to my extreme surprise, she said nothing about it.  
"It's lovely to see you sweetheart. And looking so well!" The older woman caught sight of Stefan and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "The young man, I assume, who you fell in love with?" She asked lightly and Caroline nodded. Stefan stepped forward, offering his hand.  
"It's lovely to meet you m'am." He said politely, matching her airy tone. Mrs. Spinelli looked at his hand for a moment before shaking it carefully. Caroline's shoulders sagged in relief and I couldn't help but feel the same way.  
"Mrs. Spinelli, it was lovely seeing you but we really must dash." I chirped, realising that a few of the neighbours were getting adventurous and looked like they were preparing to come out for a confrontation. Mrs. Spinelli nodded, her eyes not moving from Stefan.  
"Well you take care dears." She said, sounding distracted, and we all nodded obediently. She gave us a cheery smile and hobbled off on her way.

"Come on." I muttered, beginning to walk again. Caroline gently touched my arm and I spun around to glare at her.  
"Thank you. For helping me with this." She said softly and I rolled my eyes and kept going.  
"I'm going to knock on the door and tell them that you're back." I said through gritted teeth. "Then you go in and make amends. Stefan, you go in later and for the love of God, do _not _tell them that you're engaged –"  
I stopped, freezing. Caroline's old house had come into view – and we had an audience. All the surrounding houses' lawns were _filled _with people, all glaring at us in total silence. And in the centre were Caroline's assembled family, not looking at us with as much hatred as sadness.

I took a deep breath and grabbed Caroline's hand. "You keep your head up and you walk with me. Do you understand?" I told her quietly, and she nodded shakily. I couldn't believe I was actually going to do this...

"Is there a problem?" I addressed the crowd breezily as I strolled as nonchalantly as one could when faced with an angry mob towards them. A single man stepped forward and my heart sank. Brilliant. Alaric Saltzman.

"Our problem is that you've brought _her_ back." He announced and I glanced at Caroline before raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't know she wasn't allowed to see her family." I shot back, feeling Caroline squeeze my hand. Alaric snorted, damn him.

"She's not allowed back in _here_ Ms. Gilbert. Neither her or the _leech_ are welcome." He spat the last word and I felt annoyance bubble up inside of me.

"I'm sorry Alaric, I didn't realise that you ruled us now. Did I miss the vote?"

Alaric's features contorted in anger and he stepped towards us.  
"What kind of a daughter are you? Your father's in _jail_ thanks to these leeches!" I stiffened. He wasn't actually going to say it was he?  
Oh but he did.

"He should be ashamed to have you as a daughter."

That was it. That was the final straw. I was sick of Alaric Saltzman and his _bullshit_. I let go of Caroline's hand and stormed up to him, forcing him to take a step back.

"You listen to me Alaric." I snarled, not even caring about the murmurs in the crowd. I was too worked up and I could only focus my rage on the smirking man in front of me.

"My father is the reason why I have to let some vampire drink my blood, so I'm not feeling that worried about him being ashamed of me right now. You understand? You do not own me, you do not control me and you certainly don't tell me who I can and can't help. So get out of my way right now, because so help me, I will do something to _really _make my father ashamed of me."

Alaric laughed. He _laughed._

Before I could leap on him screaming however, I felt a whoosh of air and then Caroline was holding him by the collar, pressed up against the wall, snarling at him.

"You don't talk to my best friend like that, do you understand?" She hissed as he struggled to fight back. He was nothing, I realised, without his stakes and vervain and little army. He was just an angry little man – although he certainly disguised it well. He was looking at Caroline with complete disgust.

"You're a leech too? Well I'll have you know this Caroline Forbes, you will be the _first _person I kill when –"

It was at this point that Stefan chimed in – he had been quiet until now, when his voice was possibly the scariest thing I had ever heard and I could only be relieved that the pure fury in his tone wasn't aimed at me.

"Don't say it." He said very softly, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the entire place went quiet. "If you even utter another word of that sentence Saltzman, I will rip you _limb from limb_, extremely slowly. Now if I were you, I would run home and never let me see you talking to a lady like that again."

Alaric's complexion paled as Stefan spoke. Caroline released him so he fell with a thump to the dirt, before scrambling up hurriedly.

"The Liberation Militia will win." He hissed and I heard a few cheers from the crowd, although most just looked worried. Stefan didn't seem fazed however.

"It's not going to win today. Just get out of my sight Saltzman. _Now._"

To my extreme joy, Alaric muttered something and disappeared back into the crowd, most of who ran at this stage. Actually, the only people left were the Forbes, who looked exhausted. Caroline took a tentative step towards them.

"Mom...Dad..." She whispered; all of her bravado and courage was now gone. Mr. Forbes glanced at Stefan before sighing.  
"Come on then Care. We all need to get acquainted with your new...friend."  
"A cup of tea will do us all good." Mrs. Forbes added, before faltering. "Do...I mean, do you still drink tea? With your new...diet?"

Caroline nodded, her blonde curls bouncing. I realised her eyes were damp as she gave them a watery smile. "Tea is one part of my diet I refuse to give up." She said, her voice cracking. Mrs. Forbes shot her a look of what could only be described as pure pride and they all shuffled into the tiny house. I glanced at Stefan, who was gazing after her with, much as I hated to admit it, total love. I nudged his shoulder.

"Go on. Follow them. They want to know you too." I told him quietly and he smiled at me, his green eyes bright as he shook his head.

"I don't want to interrupt. I'll stay out here for a little while, and then I'll go in. They have a lot to catch up on." He sat down on the ground, leaning against the wall. After a few moments of hesitation, I sighed and slid down beside him.

"I'll wait out here too then. I'm not sure if I can cope with the tears."  
He snorted and began talking about the weather or something – to be quite honest, I was paying very much attention. All I could think about was how they had both surprised me today – and maybe the vampires weren't as horrendous as I had always been taught.

**By the way - review please. G'wan :) **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello darlings! Long time no write, I know, I know, I'm horrendous. I have just been busy busy busy and writing stuff like this takes a really long time! But I ****_finally _****have this up, so do enjoy. This chapter is basically Delena feels so I hope you like it - I did ;) **

**Oh and quick favour to ask - please review. I know this may be irritating and you hear it all the time if you read fanfics regularly but if you do write them, you'll understand the complete amount of work that goes into these and only getting a few reviews makes me sad in the face. So do let me know what you think, even if you don't even have an account. You can leave guest reviews and I will love you forever.**

**Oh and finally, I should probably mention that I stole the name of the Liberation Militia from a book called Noughts (?) and Crosses by Malorie Blackman. Sorry Malorie Blackman!**

The drive to Damon's was quiet. After the extremely emotional reunion of the Forbes, Stefan had insisted that I take the lift back with them in their fancy car that I imagined would have cost a lot more than my house. To be honest, it didn't take much persuasion – I was a bit scared of what someone might do to me if I stayed in the Pail on my own. I would have to work out how I was going to continue living there actually.

Caroline sniffled from the front seat, her eyes rimmed with red. She kept shooting me watery smiles which I dutifully returned. To my not so extreme surprise, the Forbes had welcomed her back with completely open arms. They were a little more cautious about Stefan but that was to be expected – they had never met him before and then he had nearly killed a man right in front of their eyes. But whatever.

We pulled smoothly into the Salvatore driveway, and I suddenly noticed how pretty and well kept it was – the drive was lined with perfectly spherical topiary bushes and flowers were planted in between each little tree. I would have to try to explore this place a little better at some stage.

We stopped outside the huge house and I saw that Damon was leaning against the front door, waiting for us and my heart thudded erratically before I could stop myself. He was wearing a simple black t shirt that clung to his muscles and dark jeans, and his raven black hair was slightly damp from his shower (at least I was guessing) and his blue eyes were piercing into me and he just looked so..._no stop it Elena._ I couldn't start letting myself find him attractive because then who knows what he could make me do?

"Alaric Salztman?" He asked as he stood back to let us into the house. I shook my head dismissively as I followed Caroline towards the kitchen.  
"He's nobody." I called over my shoulder as I entered the light, airy room.

"He's a threat." Stefan corrected, coming close after me. I rolled my eyes. Alaric? A threat? To me, sure, but to Damon Salvatore? Hardly.

Caroline handed me a glass of water and I took a grateful sip. I was exhausted, and it wasn't even 9 o clock. I could tell it was going to be a long day.

"What's this Liberation Militia, by the way?" Stefan asked casually and Caroline and I glanced at each other.  
"It's...it's nothing." I lied, taking a gulp of water. Damon snorted and I glanced up to see him looking at me like I was crazy. I realised that I was going to have to be careful about this – one wrong sentence and my entire family could end up in jail.  
"If it's nothing, why are nearly all members of the Pail a part of it?"  
I said nothing and Damon made an exasperated noise at the back of his throat before closing the gap between us so he was only a few inches from me.  
"Let me just remind you that I'm the one in charge." He purred dangerously, his cool minty breath tickling my cheeks, his piercing eyes burning into mine. He was basically pressing me against the wall and I had nowhere to look but straight at him.

"Let me just remind you that I'm the one with information." I hissed back, meeting his gaze defiantly. Caroline laughed gleefully in the distance, but I didn't look over at her; this was a battle now – who would look away first. I knew better than to try and push him away – this would just piss him off or amuse him and I didn't really want either of those.

After a few moments, Stefan sighed and cleared his throat. "If this staring match is going to continue, I think Caroline and I will be going. We'll be back later." There were muttered complaints from Caroline but she dutifully followed Stefan from the room, leaving only the two of us.

I suddenly became aware of how sensitive my skin was – every brush of his hand against me sent a tingle down my spine. _Dammit Elena._

"You've got fire in you Ms. Gilbert." He murmured, and I swore that my heart stopped for a minute. "All of these years, you've been keeping it down but I can see it in your eyes. Well let me just warn you, sweetheart. People like me? We love fire. But there are a lot of people who don't, people who condemn it in fact. So I'd be careful if I were you – you don't want to get yourself in trouble." He turned away abruptly, moving to the fridge and leaving me extremely confused.

"Is fruit salad ok for breakfast?" He asked over his shoulder like nothing was wrong, and when I didn't reply, he turned around to see me looking at him like he was crazy.

"Did you just threaten me?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Threaten you? Ms. Gilbert, I told you that I liked your spirit."

"Well what's that supposed to mean?" I demanded huffily and he chuckled, sliding a bowl of fruit towards me.

"It means I like _you_, Ms. Gilbert. Now shush and eat your breakfast."

I nibbled on the last cube of apple, trying to ignore the way he was examining me.

"Is something wrong?" I asked eventually, finally meeting his piercing gaze.

"You're just extremely interesting Ms. Gilbert, and I'm using my incredible ability to work out _who _a person is, on you."

I snorted, trying to hide my discomfort. I didn't like people trying to work out who I was – I much preferred to be known as the girl with the slightly cool air, who wasn't in any way vulnerable or capable of being hurt. I needed people to see me in the way I painted myself to be – it let me trick myself into thinking it too. As soon as I let someone see the real, soft, easily hurt, _scared _Elena, I wouldn't be able to trick myself anymore.

"Well, do let me know when you're finished. I'm sure whatever you discover will be intriguing." I said as breezily as I could, slipping out of the chair to put my bowl into the sink. Just as the porcelain touched the stainless steel of the sink, he spoke to my back.

"You're not at all the person who you claim to be."

I turned around slowly, my heart thumping in my chest. "Who am I then?" I challenged, meeting his gaze full on. "I'm sure this will be interesting."

He got up out of his chair, never breaking eye contact. "You're a worried young woman who's a lot nicer than you let on." He said softly as he slowly closed the distance between us. "You're caring, and kind and generous and you love fiercely, with all of your heart. And I was right before – you do have fire in you. It burns slowly, meaning you're passionate. But you push it down, repress it, because you're scared that someone will see the real you. And the most important one of all – you're lonely Ms. Gilbert."

I was gripping the side of the counter so tightly that my knuckles were white. "Is that so?" I asked stiffly. "Well, Mr. Salvatore, I'm sorry to disappoint but that's not me at all. I'm not some...passionate ooey gooey person. I'm just..." I trailed off, unsure of how to finish that, because really, there was no right ending.

Damon's blue eyes were piercing into mine. "Why won't you let people see the real you?" He murmured and I wanted to both slap him and hug him.

"This is the real me." I protested shakily and he shook his head.

"This is not you Elena. This cold, calculated person who never lets anyone in? It's a mask."

He was messing with my head, I was sure of it. This was one of his little mind games, designed to make me break down and tell him everything. Who was he to act like he knew who I was? I had barely known him three days for crying out loud!

"Damon, I'm not doing this now." I turned away from him, beginning to angrily scrub the bowl clean.

"Well you're going to have to realise sometime, Ms. Gilbert that not everyone is against you."

"I don't think that everyone is against me. I don't even know what you're talking about!" I hissed through gritted teeth.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Elena. You don't trust anyone!"

I spun around to glare at him. "I don't trust crazy vampires who've put my father in jail and are trying to find out everything about me!"

"Princess, don't kid yourself. You don't trust me _because _I'm a vampire, because that's what your precious father taught you. Your precious father who's brainwashed you."

I was going to slap him. I seriously was. "You know nothing about me Damon!" I cried, my voice rising hysterically. "And I'm not your princess and all I want is to get this over with and go home but you won't stop trying to get me to tell you everything! What the hell do you want me from me? Do you want me to tell you that I hated my father because he was _never _home and always out at one of those damn rebel meetings? Do you want me to tell you that our family hasn't had enough money for as long as I can remember, and it's no thanks to my mother who just sits at home waiting for him? Do you want me to tell you what it's like to have a brother who puts his rebellion before his family? Do you want me to tell you how sick and _angry_ I felt when I found out he had agreed to just give me away to you like I was nothing, as long as he saved his own ass? So yes, Damon, I have built up a wall, and yes, it's very rare that I've let people past it because I've learned that it's easier not to and after years of being let down over and over, it's just better to not have to –"

His lips. Why were they pressed against mine? This wasn't right. I had been yelling at him goddammit, why was he...kissing...me...?

My thoughts grew hazy as I found myself wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him back. His lips were soft and cool and tasted like sugar and spice and there were butterflies dancing around my stomach and I was pretty sure there were fireworks somewhere. His hands were twisted in my hair, pulling me closer to him. Somewhere at the back of my mind I knew that this was wrong, but I couldn't force myself to pull away, no matter how hard I tried. Damon was far too...passionate to drag myself away from him. _Passionate. _The word he had used to describe me when he was..._using his little mind tricks._ Oh God, what had I let him do?

I pulled away from him, gasping for air a little. "Are you crazy?" I demanded, trying to ignore how lovely and tingly my lips felt. His eyes had darkened and I could see his teeth were slightly sharper. God, he looked good. _No, no, no he didn't Elena._

"There you go." He purred, brushing a strand of hair that had escaped behind my ear. "You _can _let your walls down."

I spluttered indignantly. "You can't just go around _kissing _people!" I protested, trying not to let his hypnotising eyes distract me.

He chuckled and brushed my hair with the lightest of touches. "I can and I will darling. Besides, don't act like you didn't enjoy it."

"I didn't...of course I didn't enjoy –"

He cut me off by brushing his lips against my cheek – even this caused me to shiver.

"Lying is never an attractive trait Ms. Gilbert." He murmured in my ear and I had to step away from him, feeling my cheeks turning red. He stood back with a smug smirk, and I wanted to thump him. Instead, I gritted my teeth and snapped "What do you want me to do for the rest of the day then?"

He contemplated this. "Well, at some stage I'll obviously drink from you." I cringed at this idea, remembering the..._events _of the last time. He ignored me and continued. "But apart from that, there's not really all that much...can you read?"

He added the last part completely seriously, seemingly contemplating something and I flushed with embarrassment. What did he think us humans in the Pail were, uneducated idiots?

"Of course I can read!" I hissed coldly and he held up his hands defensively.

"Ok, ok, calm down princess, just a question. Do you read often?"

This did cause me to fault. I adored reading but books were so damn expensive and that meant only one thing in the Pail – you weren't getting any. Books, that is.

"Books...books cost money." I said emotionlessly by way of explanation and he didn't press any further, nor did he make fun of me like I'd expected. Instead there was a kind of glimmer in his eye and he smiled smugly.

"Come on then. Follow me."

I trudged up the third flight of stairs after him, wondering where on earth we could be going. I had a sneaking suspicion that this was just some trick or something. But finally we stopped going up stairs and he led me down a bright little corridor, stopping outside a white wooden door.

"This is my office." He explained, holding the door open for me. I stepped inside gingerly and could only stare. It was like the president's office or something. It was a circular room, the entire back section of it made of glass and showing the immaculate gardens. There was a _massive_ wooden desk in the middle of the room, along with a leather chair that looked bigger than my bed. The floor was a plush blue carpet and the curtains velvet that looked so soft, I wanted to cuddle them. I looked around, wondering why we were here, other than for him to brag. That was when I noticed a big bookcase at the side of the room, just before where the glass began. It was lined with thick, leather bound books that sure, looked impressive, but didn't look like easy reading. I turned to raise an eyebrow at him and he gestured to the case.

"Go on."

I walked slowly to the case, pretending to look at the old books. Eventually I gave and turned back to him, prepared to question him or something but he spoke again.

"Pull out that red book." He instructed as he walked over to the desk. I glanced at him again, before turning back to the bookcase, preparing to search for the red cover, but it was right in front of me. I lightly touched the spine of the book, surprised at how..._solid _it felt. Almost like metal or something.

"Just take out the book Ms. Gilbert."

So I pulled, fully intending for the book to slide out into my hands. But no. It tilted to a 45 degree angle and stopped and then suddenly the bookcase began to move forward. I stood back, watching in utter amazement as the whole thing pushed out and then to the side, revealing...was that a _room? A hidden room?_

God, Damon Salvatore lived in luxury.

This time, I didn't wait for Damon's instructions. I just stepped into it, in awe. It was about the size of our kitchen at home – the floor was a light pine, and a bay window at the back allowed light to flood in. There was a single couch that looked like you would sink into it and the _walls._ My eyes swept along the multiple bookcases, stuffed to the brim with paperbacks and hardbacks and god only knows what other backs. There was literally no wall space free; it was all totally covered.

"Are all of these yours?" I asked softly, turning around to look at him. He smiled as he followed me into the room, running his fingertips over the spines of the books proudly. There were all kinds, everything from Dickens to Shakespeare to modern stuff. It must have taken years and years to gather all of these.

"I've had a long time to make this collection." He chuckled, as though reading my mind and I blushed at my stupidity. Obviously Damon had been alive for many lifetimes –God only knew how many. I contemplated asking him but he would get far too much enjoyment out of that. So I kept my mouth shut, instead scanning through all of the titles hungrily. What I'd give to get my hands on some of them.

"You're welcome to read any of them that you'd like." I heard him say from behind me and I spun around to grin at him, unable to hide my delight.

"Are you sure?" I beamed and he rolled his eyes but smiled.

"There's hardly anything else for you to do in this place. You go on and begin to flick through them anyway – I'll be in my office."

I didn't hang around – I immediately began scavenging through the books, feeling a little overwhelmed. He snorted and I heard him step back into his office quietly but I barely noticed – I had far more important things right now. It was then that I stopped and wondered if I had just made a massive mistake. I had promised myself that I wouldn't _talk _to him last...had that really only been _last night_? I looked guiltily at the space that led into his office. I had literally no willpower. But I mean...they were just _books_, right? Nothing that could make people think I was on their side. Just books. That was at least what I assured myself as I examined the cover of a tattered, well loved book at the edge of one of the bookcases. _The Purple Haven_. I flicked through it. It didn't seem like anything remarkable to be honest, but for some reason...it was pulling me in. Well, it wouldn't hurt to try it, right?

"Elena?"

I looked up at Damon wide eyed from the squishy couch. He was looking down on me with a raised eyebrow. I glanced down at the book, the world I had just been absorbed in, been a part of. I was practically three quarters of the way through it and I was pretty sure I wouldn't be the same after it.

"I've been calling you for the past five minutes."

I blinked at him confusedly, still halfway in the book. "Sorry, sorry." I mumbled, standing up and unwillingly going to put the book back.

But he stopped me, lightly grabbing my arm. _That _got my full attention. A sharp tingle ran through me when our skin came in contact.

"What book are you reading?" He asked curiously and I hesitantly handed him the simple paperback, feeling defensive of my new baby.

A weird expression crossed his face. He didn't really look at the book either – he just kind of looked at me.

"Where did you find this?" He asked and I nodded to the now empty corner of the bookshelf.

"Have you read it?" I mumbled and he laughed, almost sounding...freaked out?

"I...yes, I've read it. What do you think so far?"

I shrugged, not wanting to actually tell him for fear he'd make fun of me. His face dropped just the tiniest bit – the change was nearly unnoticeable but I didn't want to comment on it, mainly because I didn't really understand why. He would just deny it anyway – Damon Salvatore didn't _do _disappointment.

"I was going to ask you if you wanted any lunch." He murmured, changing the subject.

I made a face before realising what he meant. I _was_ lunch. He noticed my eyes get just a little wider and he sighed.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. Now come on, you need to eat something. You can't go fainting like you did the last time."

I glared at him and he rolled his eyes, turning out of the room, obviously hinting that I follow him so I obediently trotted after him down the huge stairs, trying to ignore the churning feeling in my stomach.

I took more notice of the size of the house as we went down the many flights of stairs. I had known it was big before, but as I examined it, I realised it was _huge_. The long hallways flooded with natural light went on for as far as I could see.

"Why on Earth do you need such a massive house?" I asked in amazement as yet another long corridor came into view.

He shrugged, glancing back at me. "Why not?" was his drawled answer and I rolled my eyes.

We were around the second floor when he spoke again.

"I thought you might be hungry so I made you quiche."

I rolled my eyes. What in God's name was a _quiche_? It sounded like a medieval torture instrument. I was about to mock it out loud when we arrived at the bottom stair and a gorgeous smell wafted towards me. It smelled delicious, pastry...and something else? Damon grinned smugly and held the kitchen door open for me.

"Eggs, bacon, tomato and some secret ingredients encased in the original Salvatore recipe for pastry." He told me as I walked past, somehow managing to make _food _sound seductive.

"You know, the fact that you made this when there are people without food in the Pail is a little horrendous." I informed him as I slid onto one of the chairs on the island in the centre of the kitchen. I didn't say it to make him feel bad – it was just a fact. But Damon stiffened, glancing at me over his shoulder as he took the quiche from the oven.

"Did your family have enough food?"

Now _I _stiffened, a little caught out by the personal question. "Usually. More so in the last few years." I answered carefully, playing with my thumbs and not really looking up. "I mean sometimes we wouldn't have too much. Dad used to have friends over and they would...take it."

He did that 'pretending not to be curious but completely is' thing and turned around to look at me fully. "Friends?" He asked lightly and I gave him a pointed look. He persisted however and eventually I gave in.

"Members of the Liberation Militia, Damon."

"Why would they take food?"

I hesitated again and Damon sighed.

"Elena, I'm not going to tell all of this to the government. I was just interested, that's all."

He turned back around, to add seasoning to the quiche or whatever, I don't know. He wasn't pressing me – he was giving me a choice. But suddenly, I wanted to tell someone. I wanted to tell someone who wouldn't judge me (probably, considering that the Militia was in place to bring down his kind) for not being proudof my father and instead just being angry at him. Plus, Damon didn't even work in the government. What harm could he do?

"That's the price. Of being in the Militia."

Damon turned around to face me, looking interested. "It's like a way of payment." I explained, suddenly unable to stop the words from coming. "But we don't have money – nobody does. Plus even if we did have it, what could we do with it? The Pail isn't exactly full of shops or investment opportunities. _Food_ is something everyone wants and needs. So that's how you prove that you're loyal to the Militia. The leaders come and take most of your food, even if you have a family, even if that means you'll starve. It shows that...it shows that you're putting the rebellion before your own flesh and blood."

Damon looked a little horrified – I couldn't blame him.

"So you mean to tell me that it's a sick..._initiation?_" He said slowly, putting down a slice of a delicious looking pie – quiche? – in front of me.

"Kind of. The rebels don't take kindly to anyone who may be disloyal and spill secrets. It's like a preventive measure I guess."

His knuckles were clenched so tight that they were turning white. "You ok?" I asked slowly, and he nodded quickly, his voice tight.

"I'm fine. I'm fine, of course. You...you eat up. I just...I have a phone call to make."

I shot straight up without thinking. "You can't tell anyone!" I screeched, and he froze. "You can't tell anyone what I just told you, you _can't_!" I continued desperately, now wondering what massive mistake I had just made. "They'll _kill_ me, do you understand? I shouldn't have told you, oh God, I shouldn't have told you –"

I was cut off when he appeared inches in front of me. "I won't tell a soul, ok?" He murmured, brushing hair out of my face. "I said you could trust me and I meant it."

I would have calmed down but now my heart was thumping even faster due to the fact that his lips were just a little bit away from mine. I mean heck, I could lean in just a little and we would be kissing again..._no_.

I turned away quickly. "Thank you." I said quietly and he shrugged.

"It's not a problem princess. Now eat your food, I'm getting hungry."

I winced at this little comment but obediently sat down and had my fork all ready to dive into the thick, warm pastry when Stefan crashed into the kitchen, looking grim. Damon immediately stood up straighter, staring at him. Stefan looked from me to him to me again.

"It's the Pail." He said softly and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Damon tense even more. "There's been a rebellion."

**Gah I hope you enjoyed this. And remember the favour that I so lovingly asked of y'all - Review? :)**

**Bye my darlings, **

**x**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello my darlings! I'm back again and usual apology for taking ages etc etc. The response after my begging for reviews the last time was absolutely overwhelming, y'all astound me each and every time I upload. So if you wouldn't mind doing that again, I'd be extremely grateful J It's just so lovely when you've spent a long time working hard on something to see people take the time to write comments and just be nice. So thank you to all of my loyal readers and hallo to all of my new ones!**

**We've also hit over 100 follows – em, hello, what? That's mad and it might not sound like a lot but it's weird to think that each and every one of you are actual people who actually read my story and will be now receiving an email or an notification that I've just uploaded and just bless. **

**So yes, please enjoy – Delena is featured heavily :D**

The fork fell to the plate with a loud clatter, but nobody even looked at it. Both Damon and I were staring at Damon in horror.

"What does a rebellion consist of?" Damon asked suddenly, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"Burning down buildings, blowing up things, basically forming a mob."

Damon swore, tapping something into his phone. He snapped it shut, when his eyes finally landed on me. I was standing up, staring at the ground in horror. I had caused this; this was all entirely my fault. If I hadn't helped Caroline, we wouldn't be in this mess and everyone in the Pail would be carrying on in their usual, given up on life sort of way. Then something struck me.

"Mom and Jeremy." They would be the closest thing that mob could get to me, so the obvious thing they would do is...oh God, oh God.

"Elena, calm down, they're going to be –"

"You need to get me down there. I need to help." I interrupted him, and he rolled his eyes.

"Princess, if you think I'm going to put you in the middle of an angry mob, you have another thing coming."

Stefan cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Damon, maybe she would be a good –"

Damon spun around to glare at him, his eyes blazing. "She's not going there, do you understand? I've seen how nasty these things can get and I'm not going to put her in danger."

"It's my fault anyway; I don't see why I can't just –"

I stopped when he appeared a few inches away from me again. "You're not going there – it's too dangerous. You're going to stay here and I'm going to make sure your family are ok. Understood?" When I said nothing, only looked at him defiantly he made a little exasperated noise and then his pupils dilated, becoming huge and...hypnotising. I couldn't look away from him and when he started speaking, his voice was relaxing and I found myself wanting to do whatever he said.

"You will stay here and you will not leave the house until I return. Got it princess?"

"I won't leave."I repeated automatically and he smirked and moved away, leaving me blinking in confusion as to what had just happened. But then Stefan confirmed my fears.

"Damon, please tell me you didn't just compel her."

Oh no. He hadn't. He wouldn't dare. But when he simply shrugged, not denying it, I found myself pushing past him into the grand entrance room of the house. But just as I was about to reach out and touch the doorknob, I slammed into what felt like an invisible wall. I tried again, with no luck – I wasn't going anywhere. The thing that was stopping me felt so _solid _but of course, it was just my mind holding me back. I hated the feeling of complete powerlessness, hated how he couldn't help himself from reminding me how much weaker I was. Fury overwhelmed me and I snapped, lunging at him.

"Who do you think you are, messing with my mind?" I screeched at him; I caught him by surprise and actually managed to make him to stumble back a little bit, until he gathered himself and I suddenly found myself pinned against the wall, his face only a few inches from mine, both of our breathing heavy. I realised that he always made sure not to hurt me when he pulled these little stunts – he was holding me enough so there was no chance of struggling free nor was he holding me too tight. His hands felt nice on my skin actually. Cool, and strong and comforting against my flushed shoulders and..._stop it Elena._ Focus on the situation.

"Don't test me princess. I'm running low on patience right now, and I don't want to have to take it out on you." He growled in my ear. "I'm going to make sure that your family are safe, I promise but all you need to do is to go upstairs and be a good girl and _stay out of trouble_." His eyes were dark and piercing and I had to blink quickly to ensure he wasn't compelling me again. When he was convinced I wasn't going to bolt, he pulled away, looping a scarf around his neck and sliding a leather jacket on.

"Eat your quiche and go to my office and read or something, ok?" I nodded sullenly, watching as he opened the front door. He rewarded me with a tense roll of the eyes and just before he disappeared out of the door completely, he gave me one last pointed look. "Try anything funny and I'll have no trouble throwing you into the middle of that mob. Got it princess?" I glared at him in response and turned to go back into the kitchen. He snorted but then the door slammed shut and I was left alone.

It suddenly struck me how _weird _this whole thing was. Had he just left me on my own in his house? Did he _trust _me? Granted I couldn't escape or anything like that but hell, he could come back and find the place up in flames. The idea pleased me more than it should, I was slightly ashamed to admit. But before I made any rash decisions, I decided to eat the quiche like he had instructed – after all it had smelled delicious.

When the final crumb of the melt in your mouth pastry was gone and I felt sleepily full, I stood up, washing my plate and leaving it to drain before standing in the centre of the kitchen, looking around and feeling a bit lost. The possibilities for things to do were pretty much endless and I was feeling a little overwhelmed and uncomfortable. Reading, I decided. I couldn't do any harm with reading. Plus, it would let me have a further snoop around the house.

I made my way up the grand stairs, this time taking more notice of each little detail. The house was beautifully decorated – a mixture of modern and classic. Everything, from the huge watercolour paintings that adorned every wall to the freshly cut flowers in every vase was immaculately cared for. My feet sank into the plush carpet as I eventually walked into his swish office and I realised that it was odd for someone to have such a fancy workplace when I hadn't seen him work once – I didn't even know if he had a job I realised and suddenly suspicion flooded through me. I really knew nothing about him – I didn't even know what age he was. In vampire years of course.

I was about to walk to the bookcase and open up that little magical room but I suddenly noticed a few folders on the desk, half open. I battled with myself for a minute before curiosity got the better of me and I tiptoed over to the enormous oak creation and gingerly picked up one of them up. It was stamped with an official Mystic Falls wax seal that was broken, allowing me to flick it open and realise with a start that it was about Dad.

It was a full fact file, the most detailed I had ever seen, with things from his date of birth to...was that his favourite food? What the hell? I scanned through it, unease growing in his stomach. _Everything _about him was listed, his weight, hair colour, eye colour, everything. There were pages and pages of it, all stuff that I didn't even know others knew. There must have been someone in his closest group of friends betraying him because it certainly wasn't stuff he threw out into the open. There were a few pages on the Liberation Militia too, on what exactly he had done and his exact jail sentence, along with a transcript of the court case. My heart beating, I threw down the file and picked up the next one. It was on Mom, and held exactly the same amount of scary detail as the first. The next one was Jeremy, and I didn't need to look at it to know that it would have everything about him. And then the last one...I knew what to expect before I even opened it but the sick jolt still shook my stomach when I saw that my name brandished at the top of it.

The difference between mine and the rest was mine had very little details. There was only my height, my eye colour, hair colour and my weight. A small blurry picture of me glaring at the camera was attached too, and I realised with a start that it was a picture from my 17th birthday when I needed to get an ID card. There was hand written notes around the edges of the pages, written in beautiful flowing script – Damon's, I was guessing. Things like _Cares too much about family _and _Loyal to old friends, even when they've betrayed her _and _Seems like she hasn't eaten proper food in months, so giving her three meals a day _and finally, _On our side_.

The last one sent a jolt down my spine. I _wasn't _nor would I ever be on their side. I was the daughter of the rebel leader for crying out loud! I threw down the file, pacing back and forth as I dragged my hands through my hair. What the hell was going on? Why did _Damon_ have a crazy amount of information on us? And why was he acting like I was an experiment or something? I suddenly found myself getting angry. How dare he have this stuff without our permission? I looked around wildly and my eyes locked on what I was looking for – the fireplace. This would be too easy.

I put the last piece of coal on top of the little pile I had made carefully, before wiping down my hands and looking for matches, which turned out to be on top of the cool marble. I lit it easily and quickly tossed it in. There was a _whoosh _as the merry fire spread over the coal, giving out a gorgeous warm glow. And I hesitated only for a moment before tossing Mom's folder in. The paper folder was immediately swallowed up by the flames, followed by Jeremy's.

I had Dad's folder in my hand, ready to go into the blaze when I suddenly heard the door open behind me. I spun around to see Damon staring at me and I very nearly felt guilty about what I had just done before I remembered that I was completely justified in my burnings.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked, sounding more in disbelief than anything else.

"Why do you have all of this crap on my family?" I snapped, waving the folder in the air at him. His expression grew serious when he realised what I was holding and he took a step towards me.

"Princess, just give it to me." He growled, his voice a dangerous purr.

"No!" I hissed, furious now. "Why do you have this stuff Damon? It's not your right to know _any _of it unless we tell you –"

"Elena, I swear to God, give me the folder right now before I have to take it from you."

I froze at how threatening his voice was. He was _angry_ now, in a way I hadn't seen him before. His eyes were feral, his voice a bark. I didn't hand him the folder but I didn't exactly keep it away from him either. I just kept talking, keeping my eyes locked on him.

"Why do you have a folder on me?" I asked, my voice shaky and his expression softened just a little bit.

"Princess, give me the folder."

I shook my head. "I'm not on your side!" I added suddenly, remembering the absurd suggestion written in his stupid perfect writing.

He rolled his eyes at that. "Darling, we'll discuss that another time because I think you'll need to have alcohol in your system before you admit the truth but I don't have time for this right now. We have to go."

I raised an eyebrow at him. I wasn't going _anywhere _with him, not until he explained himself.

"The leader of the rebellion was that Saltzman idiot. He insisted that the only way to call the whole thing off was to bring you to talk to your father. So that's where we're going."

Oh. Well that changed everything.

I unwillingly let the folder drop to the floor, so I wasn't handing it to him exactly but I wasn't tossing it into the fire either. It was the best he was going to get. He rolled his eyes and stood back, gesturing for me to leave the room. I reluctantly did and he followed me, making sure that I heard him locking the door and his mutterings about privacy these days.

"I don't understand why Alaric wants _me _to talk to Dad." I muttered, more to myself than anything as we made our descent down the stairs. "Hell, I'm not much use to them when I'm stuck here, am I?"

Damon chuckled grimly. "Well, that's what we're hoping to find out."

When we reached the front door, I flinched, fully expecting to slam into that invisible wall again. But Damon chuckled and I glared at him before marching determinedly through where it once been, and out into the cold air. "If you ever try that compulsion on me again without my permission, I'll find a way to kill you." I muttered and he laughed, making his way down the stone steps. I however, stopped again, this time not because of Damon Salvatore's stunning beauty or his piercing eyes. (This seemed to be the usual cause of it these days.) No, this time I was staring at his creation in front of us.

"What is _that_?" I asked, a little horrified as I stared at the giant blue...thing.

"It's my car." He said, sounding a little wounded.

"_That_ is not a car. That is a pile of rusty blue metal."

He snorted as he opened the passenger door for me. "Well, it's the only ride you're getting. So either you get in or you walk."

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the shivers that tingled down my spine as I brushed past him to slide in. "Even by the Pail's standards, this is appalling." I told him and he laughed, his minty breath cool on my cheeks.  
"I'll take the roof down sometime and show you how much fun it is then." He teased and I snorted as I flopped into the soft leather seats. The inside of the car smelt like mints and his cologne – not a bad combination. I allowed myself to inhale deeply once before the other car door opened and he slid in elegantly, turning the key in the ignition in one fluid motion. The car roared to life and I could see him smirking smugly out of the corner of my eye and I had to smile too. Damon Salvatore did that to me. Five minutes ago, I had been positive that I would never speak to him again I had been so angry. But now…heck, we were laughing like we were old friends.

He pulled out of the drive smoothly, and I watched the Shire go by as we sped through the town. We sat in silence for a few minutes until he eventually spoke.

"I got Caroline to grab you some warmer clothes by the way. That dress is pretty but it won't help you much during the winter. They're in the back seat."

"I don't take charity Damon –"

He cut me off by sighing tiredly. "Well you will this one time. Go on, put on a jumper or something." I glared at him but unwillingly turned to look at the back seat to see bags and bags filled with colourful tissue paper. This was ridiculous. I was all ready to turn around to refuse them completely when I caught sight of a thick black cardigan peeking out of the top of one of them. It looked so _cosy_ and without really thinking, I reached out to let my fingers run along the soft fabric. Damon caught my eye in the windscreen mirror.

"Put it on." He murmured as he turned a corner.

It was in my hands before I could stop myself and I pulled it on slowly. Immediately I felt ten times better – I only realised then exactly how cold it had been. But now I was wrapped in this delicious toasty material and the _thought _of taking it off made me feel cold again.

"Thank you." I said quietly and he grinned.

"No problem. It looks good on you. You should wear black more often."

Butterflies. Butterflies were fluttering all around my stomach and my stupid heart. I tried to laugh nonchalantly, hugging the thick wool tighter around me.

"You don't really get a choice of colours in the Pail. You take what you can get." I tried to say this without embarrassment but I couldn't. What on earth would he think of me, when he could afford to buy the world and his mother in whatever colour he liked and I was stuck with tatters? He didn't look disgusted though – just thoughtful.

"Well, what's your favourite colour?" He asked, his voice velvety. I was about to snort, tell him that I had far more important things to be worrying about that choosing which _colour _I preferred. That when you were struggling for money to survive, deciding between green or orange wasn't high on your list of priorities.

"Blue."

It slipped out before I could stop myself, probably because his intense blue eyes were burning into me. I was an idiot. I was the biggest _idiot _– blue? Try and make it more obvious Elena, Jesus. Why couldn't I have just said pink or purple like a normal girl? _Blue_? I hadn't even liked the colour blue until I met him and discovered what an extraordinary colour it could be. I was a pathetic human being, I really was. And he _knew_ what I had meant, I could tell by the tiny smirk on the corners of his lips.

"I'll make sure to add that to your file." He said seriously and I had to stare at him for a few moments before I realised that he was joking. We both burst out laughing at the same time – why, I'm not really sure.

"You still need to explain that folder thing to me Mr. Salvatore." I reminded him sternly and for some reason his brow furrowed and he seemed to grow…tired?

"I've a feeling your father is going to explain that to you anyway." He sighed as we pulled to a smooth stop outside a huge, important looking building. My stomach twisted into knots as I realised that my dad was in there, right now. And I was expected to go and talk to him. I hadn't seen him in a few month and now I was expected to go in and act like we were the best of friends?

"You ok?" Damon asked, interrupting my thoughts. I shot him a weary smile.

"I get to go in and talk to my father who effectively handed me over to a vampire, so yes, I'm majestic."

Damon laughed and slid out of the car. I was left on my own for a moment until he reappeared, opening my door for me.

"You're a fighter Ms. Gilbert. You'll get through it." He told me, sounding amused. I made a face at him as I got out of the car, before turning to look apprehensively at the looming building in front of me. I allowed myself five seconds to try to think of escape routes before sighing in resignation.

"Come on then." I muttered, beginning to walk. "The sooner we go in, the sooner we come out."

**Annnnnnnd scene! Please review and follow and favourite and all of that. I've really turned into one of *those* writers I know but every time one of you does something I get an email and that email sound on my iPhone makes me more excited than anything else these days. Love you all!**

**Bye my darlings,**

**x**


	7. Chapter 7

**A wild update appears! My second update in a week? Y'all are extremely lucky, but I wanted to keep going with the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one, I really do. I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to be doing with our favourite couple in a few chapters and you will all despise me for it. I can't wait. **

**Anyways, enjoy and I'll see you at the bottom!**

As soon as I stepped into the enormous building, the smell of cinnamon attacked my nostrils. Damon laughed as I coughed, at least being courteous enough to pat me once on the back – not that this helped me at all.

"They put the smell off whatever event is coming up into the air vents." He explained lightly, watching in amusement as the tears streamed down my bright red face.

"What event is this? The event of the Spice drawers?" I spluttered, trying to catch my breath.

Damon snorted as we walked into the reception area. "Christmas, Ms. Gilbert."

I would have asked why _they _were celebrating Christmas when they were vampires and it was a pretty human and a completely religious holiday (I had just assumed that vampires weren't the religious type) but I was too worried to even care. Once the stars disappeared from my eyes after my coughing fit, I drank in the expensive building. Whatever money had been spent on Damon's house was nothing in comparison to this – although the style was similar. It _oozed _wealth, from the clearly hand woven tapestry that took up the entirety of the wall to the marble pillars at every corner and of course, the massive Mystic Falls emblem on the floor**.** The vampires hurrying past were dressed immaculately in suits and trench coats and they all shot me extremely weird glances, but whenever they looked to Damon for explanation, he all but ignored them. In fact, he seemed to be…_glaring _at them? And what's more, upon him glaring at them, they quickly looked back to the ground minding their own business, pretending nothing had happened.

We continued on deeper and deeper into the building, which became less and less obviously expensively furnished (I couldn't help but notice the beautiful subtle sculptures of lions and lambs) as we went on. "How do you know where to go in a place as massive as this?" I asked in amazement after a series of zig zags through multiple corridors. He didn't answer, which only added to my unease. Finally we stopped outside of an ominous black door and I thought I might throw up. _He _was in there. Waiting for me. (Unless this turned out to be some elaborate plan by the vampires to torture me for information or something, I don't know.)

"Any final words of advice?" I asked jokily, trying not to sound like I wanted to curl up in a ball on the ground. Damon didn't look at me and I realised that he was standing taller, his eyes far more dangerous and his mouth a hard line. This was the Damon he showed to other people and it was simultaneously terrifying and ridiculously attractive.

"Just remember that if I didn't tell you anything, it was only to make you feel safer."

Ok, hang on, what? Had he just said what I thought? I was getting prepared to demand an explanation but it was too late. The door opened, revealing a small little room. Stefan was in there, with Caroline (I just assumed she was there because he was – she shot me an awkward smile. I ignored it.) and a few other vampires I didn't know, clearly dressed to look tough in all black. I noticed how uncomfortable they looked when Damon entered, pulling me with him.

"Where is he?" Damon asked softly, his voice a velvety purr. Stefan nodded to another door and my heart quickened. Damon glanced at me – heck, he could probably hear it. "Go on then." He said quietly and I nodded faintly, slowly making my way to the door. I had no doubt that they would be listening to every word of our conversation, so I knew I'd have to be careful.

Well. Here it went.

The hinges creaked as I lightly pushed against the cool metal handle. I stepped inside, shutting the door quietly behind me before I actually looked up. Grayson Gilbert sat at a small table, smirking at me. He looked pretty much the same as I remembered – brown messy hair, sharp cheekbones and an arrogant mouth. His eyes had a condescending look, his tone constantly pitying as though he knew something you didn't. My father.

"Elena." He stood up easily, making his way over to me. He went to hug me and I stood stiffly in his awkward embrace, waiting until it was over to release my breath. He held me at arm's length for a moment, examining me carefully, checking in particular my neck. When he saw that there were no bite marks, he grinned and stepped back.

"Sit, sit. We need to catch up."

I stared at his back as he leisurely ambled back over to the chair. I was here for a 'catch up'? And why was he strolling around like this was a hotel or something? He was in _prison _for crying out loud. I slipped out of my cardigan and hung it on the back before I sat down gingerly at the very edge of the chair, trying not to crack and reveal any emotion to his intense gaze.

"How have you been?" I asked carefully and he shrugged.  
"What do you think pumpkin? I've been _trapped_ here, locked up by those goddamn leeches."

He said this without the smile moving from his face which was really freaking me out. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

"You know they're listening to us." I said awkwardly, glancing at the door and he shrugged, leaning back in his seat.

"They know what I think of them." He said, shooting a look of hatred at the door, with that cheerful expression slipping away for just a moment, replaced with one of pure rage. Ok, I was really beginning to not like this. He turned back to me, the beam carefully plastered back on his face.

"But enough about me munchkin, how are you?"

He said this casually, like he didn't know anything about my..._situation._ I stared at him incredulously and he laughed, making a shiver run down my spine. I didn't associate his laughter with good things.

"Of course, of course, I've put you in a bit of a predicament, haven't I pet? That was top of my list of things to do, apologise to you. And I am very dearly sorry. But you understand, don't you? I mean…they were going to kill me!" His eyes darkened at the memory and he shivered slightly before smiling again. "Plus, I knew a little stint in the place wouldn't kill you."

It was exactly at that moment that I realised exactly what a coward my father was. He was willing to put everyone else's life on the line for something he believed in, but as soon as he was held responsible for his actions, he panicked and did everything he could to squirm his way out of punishment. I couldn't hide my disgust as I stared at him, seemingly completely unaware of how much I despised him at that moment.

"What's wrong pumpkin?"

Ok, he knew. His little smug smile told me he understood everything that he had done and my rage completely boiled over.

"You sent me into a vampire's house. A complete stranger." I hissed at him. "You _completely _screwed me over. Do you not get that something awful could have happened? I could be _dead! _I'm your daughter, you're meant to look after me! You're meant to take care of all of us, not put some stupid rebellion before us!" My voice was rising in pitch as I snarled at him. He was sitting back in his chair, only looking more amused as he watched me. "And how _dare_ you sit there like nothing is wrong? Your family is _starving_, your son is constantly high or nearly getting himself killed, your wife is depressed and not working and your daughter has to give some vampire her blood!" I sounded pretty hysterical at this stage, which is probably why he leaned forward, rolling his eyes.

"Your mother is fine, she's just mopey, your son is doing the family proud, and you, my girl – well, I knew you wouldn't be harmed."

I snorted indignantly at this little comment – I would get back to the first two parts later. How dare he? Not get harmed? They were _vampires _for crying out loud! I had been lucky being put with Damon and not that governor but it had only been a twist of fate, not Dad's stupid plan.

"You didn't know if I was going to be alive by the end of the day!" I screeched, standing up so I could feel just that little bit taller.

"Please. The _governor _isn't going to kill a rebel's daughter if the place is on the brink of rebellion. If he did, the whole thing would topple over and there would be chaos." His eyes gleamed for just a second and I suddenly realised that that was what he had wanted. This entire time. He had wanted for this alleged governor, who I had never even heard of (I was beginning to debate his existence) to kill me to make everyone in the Pail angry so they would rebel like never before. When I spoke again, my voice was not the bold roar I wanted. Instead, it was a trembling quiver.

"You would have sacrificed your own daughter?"

His eyes remained blank, expressionless. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

I was pretty sure that this was what being stabbed in the back with multiple sharp knivees felt like. I had to grip the table to steady myself, wondering why _I _had to get stuck with a father like this. No wonder my entire family was so screwed up - hell, it was a wonder I was even functioning at all.

"Unfortunately for you, there was a change of plan." I told him shakily. "I'm not a donor to the governor."

He snorted. "Don't be stupid Elena. Of course you are."

I shook my head, suddenly feeling triumph slowly beginning to spread throughout my body. I couldn't wait to see his face when he found out that his plan was a dud. But he spoke before I got to.

"Elena, of course they were going to tell you that he wasn't the governor. I'm just hoping you had the brains not to believe them."

And there went the triumph, leaving me with an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. I turned away from the table, dragging my hands through my hair. He wouldn't…he _couldn't _have done this to me…

"The governor of Mystic Falls, the governor who caused all of this, is Damon Salvatore Elena."

Ok, forget what I had said about the stabbing in the back thing before. _This _was what pure betrayal felt like. I turned to stare at the door in total horror. Could he see me? Probably. He hadn't told me. How could he not have told me? I had told him more than I had ever told anyone, revealed more information about everything than was strictly loyal or safe because I thought I could trust him. I _had _trusted him and God, did I feel like an idiot now. That explained so much – why people did everything he said, why he knew his way around, the files – hell, that was probably even why his house was so big. And his little comment outside the door – 'I did it to make you feel safer.' Yeah right. But hang on, when I was originally being taken to his house, the man in the front of the car had said that we weren't going there anymore…God I was _stupid._ Why had I believed a total stranger who had it in for my father? Damon was the one who had put him in jail. Any relationship we had had been a total lie and it _infuriated _me that the thought was making my heart ache. I blinked away the dampness from my eyes furiously, forcing myself to turn back to Dad who was looking at me in total horror.

"You let them compel you?" He hissed, standing up. "You let them compel you into _trusting _them? God Elena, are you an _idiot_?"

"They didn't compel me." I muttered furiously and he snorted.

"Of course they did you _stupid_ child! I thought I raised you better than that! Just because you feel some mushy bullshit towards the _governor_, you think he's on your side? Get a grip girl. He'll kill you as soon as he gets the chance."

I glared at him, grabbing my cardigan off the back of the chair. "They're not all like what you think!" I snapped, turning to storm out of the room, thinking of the nice shopkeeper who gave me food, and the lovely woman who had given me directions of course. Not the raven haired, blue eyed beauty who know felt like a stranger who was standing just outside. Just as my fingertips brushed the cool door handle, he spoke again, this time his voice calm.

"You used to be so _loyal _Elena. Loyal to me and the family. What happened to you?"

I turned to raise an eyebrow at him and he smirked, knowing me had my attention.

"You used to do anything to ensure we could get by."

Oh no. Not this. I squeezed my eyes shut, taking a deep breath. We weren't going to talk about this, not now or ever and especially not with a crowd of vampires standing just next door. But of course, he continued anyway, and this time I wasn't sure if it was because he wanted to hurt me or them. Probably both.

"Don't you remember when you were twelve, you dropped out of school for a year to help your mother when I was away on the railroad? You were so pleased to see me when I came home, you didn't leave my side for a week."

I flashed back to that year, little twelve year old Elena. I _had_ dropped out for a year, because I knew Mom wouldn't be able to cope without Dad on her own. And I had been right – she was a mess for the majority of that year and I was left to basically run the house and look after Jeremy, who was ten. Things got better when he had made enough money to come back home, as Mom wanted to appear strong to him. So she pulled herself together and I was pleased to see Dad, mainly because I knew I could finally go back to getting an education.

"And then when you were fourteen, you got a job in that little shop that sold cigarettes. You used to go straight there from school, and work until about ten o clock at night, just to ensure that week could put food on the table."

I remembered that too of course – Mr. Jones, the lovely shopkeeper ran the tiny kiosk. He was always nice to me and usually slipped me a few extra coins because he knew we weren't having the easiest time money wise. In fact, we wouldn't have got by had it not been for that little extra change every Friday. Dad was giving _all_ of our money to the Militia, along with our food. We went on for months and months with only one meal a day, until I finally had enough and decided to work.

Mr. Jones was dead now of course. He had crossed the LM in a way they hadn't liked. I went to the kiosk one morning and was told that I wouldn't be required anymore. I sometimes wondered whether I was partly the cause of his death – I knew that the LM hadn't liked that I had found a way around their little terms and conditions and so wanted to take away the family's only source of income – Dad had long given up his job laying tracks at the railroad.

"And then of course, when you were 17. Your mother and I didn't know about that of course…thank God we found you."

The blood was pounding in my ears. This was what I hadn't wanted him to bring up, not when everyone else in the room beside us could hear…not when _Damon_ could hear.

"You were selling yourself, your _body _for the sake of the family. We were both so horrified that you thought you had to go to such extremes to provide for us but you did."

My cheeks were burning with embarrassment as I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to remember those awful few nights. I had only done it a couple of times but each time felt like it lasted an eternity. It had been months before I had been able to scrub the feeling of someone else groping me off of my skin but it had got us enough money to tide us over for a little while. It was surprising how much some people would pay for sex when their families were starving. There were multiple people who I couldn't look at in the same way back in the Pail after that. I had never told anyone else, not even Caroline. And now they all knew, her and Damon and Stefan and those total strangers were probably staring at each other in total disgust and I couldn't stand the thought.

"I did that stuff because it was the right thing to do." I whispered, my eyes still tightly shut. "Not for you or your stupid rebellion!" I opened my eyes to see he was glaring at me angrily.

"You know, you'd really want to get on board with this rebellion Elena." He said softly and I could easily hear the threat in his voice. "It'll happen before you know it and the Militia will only favour those who are loyal."

I stared at him, speechless. He really did think that he was going to win this rebellion. He was _deranged, _completely and utterly mad.

"Well, good luck with that Dad. I'll be in the governor's house, no doubt with him drinking from me." I pulled on my cardigan angrily and was just turning the handle of the door when he spoke for the last time.

"Your birthday's coming up soon Elena. I'd be careful."

"Oh get a grip Dad." I spat, shooting him a look of disgust before finally storming out of that tiny claustrophobic room. My birthday was in July, not December. Had he even forgotten that? I slammed the door shut after me and looked up to see extremely surprised and horrified faces staring at me.

The first person to speak was Caroline, who stepped forward with an aghast expression on her face. "Elena…why didn't you tell me?" She whispered and I could tell she was going in for a hug but I really couldn't deal with that sentimental stuff right now. I pushed past her, past everyone to the hallway, where I slumped down against the wall, exhausted. I heard mutterings and then someone stepped out into the hallway, shutting the door quietly after themselves. I glanced up to see the governor of Mystic Falls looking down at me. I sighed, wiping away the few tears that had escaped off my cheeks angrily, looking at the wall in front of me again.

"I couldn't tell you Elena, you know I couldn't."

"Get lost. I'm not in the mood for this right now."

He of course, being Damon Salvatore, ignored me and crouched down beside me. "I'm so sorry." He said quietly and it took all of my strength not to burst into tears. Because I knew that he was apologising for everything – him not telling me who he was, the fact that I had such messed up parents and the fact that I was forced to do what I did. I felt like there was a massive hole in my heart and I wasn't sure if he was fixing it or making it bigger by apologising for something that my parents had never even considered being a problem. Pictures of a young me, a teenage me and me now kept flashing in my mind and out of all of them, the only time I could remember being happy was…when I was with him. And now everything was ruined and my head was pounding and my heart was aching and I didn't know what to do.

I shut my eyes, taking a deep breath. "I can't do this anymore. I can't keep pretending." I whispered shakily and I heard him take a sharp breath. I opened my eyes to see his intense blue ones gazing back at me, filled with worry and sadness and God only knows what else with this mysterious man.

"What it said in my file…you're right. I am on your side. I've been on your side since I was twelve and I'm still on your side now."

He stared at me and opened his mouth to say something but I continued on determinedly, despite the fact that my voice was cracking on every second word.

"And before I came here…well, I didn't really understand the point of anything. But then I met _you_ and it was like everything was full of colour and laughter and fun but now I've found out that you _lied _to me and you run this entire place and I should be disgusted because you're effectively the leader of the vampires but…the only reason I care is because you didn't tell me. Because I…I…"

I couldn't finish that last sentence. I just couldn't. But the flash of recognition in his eyes told me he knew anyway and as he gently tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, I realised that life was too short and he was too perfect and his eyes were too blue and I was too lonely and messed up to ignore this opportunity. But I had to. It wasn't right.

So I pushed his hand off of my face and stood up, shutting my eyes as I took a few deep breaths. I heard his voice behind me, in my ear. "Elena…"

You know what? Screw it. Screw my morals and Dad's morals and maybe even Damon's. Screw my upbringing and my stupid rules about love. I turned around to face him and found his blue eyes inches from mine, burning with…passion. It would have scared me but for once it only fuelled my intentions and before he could say anything, I crashed my lips down on his.

**DID I DO OK? Goodness I hope I did. I really enjoyed writing about my Grayson Gilbert, although I do despise him. And the kiss! I will have a lot of fun writing about the aftermath of ****_that_****. As always, please review, follow, favourite and everything. I say it every time – but y'all are the best. Never in my life have I encountered such kind, supportive people and I cannot thank you enough. I hope I did your favourite OTP justice and I'll see you all soon! **

**Bye my darlings,**

**X**

**(Also, let me know what you think is going to happen – I'd love to see your predictions!)**


	8. Chapter 8

**I won't blabber on for too long, because I know y'all will probably want to read the chapter but two mega quick things –**

**1) I am so incredibly sorry for how long it took me to put this chapter up. I've just had insane writer's block but hopefully it's on its way now! I will work especially hard to get the next chapter up soon!**

**2) Oh my goodness, the response to the past few chapters has been ****_overwhelming_****. You are all the sweetest darlings one could hope for and I ****_think_**** that we may hit 100 reviews on this chapter update! SQUEE! I cannot thank you enough. When you spend so long writing something, it's so incredibly lovely to get positive responses from people who like the story. So yes, thank you so much and…enjoy!**

_I crashed my lips down on his._

He froze for a moment and I clutched him closer desperately because I couldn't deal with his rejection, not today. But I needn't have worried. After just a moment, he tangled a hand in my hair as he kissed me back fiercely, pushing me so my back was pressed against the wall. I wrapped my arms around his neck, my head spinning as I ran my hands through his silky hair. His lips were cool and soft and everything they had been the first time we had kissed only a million times better.

I broke away for a moment to gasp for air and found his eyes burning into mine. "That…that was probably a mistake." I panted and he raised an eyebrow, snorting.

"Did you not enjoy it Ms. Gilbert?"

I rolled my eyes and he smirked, leaning in to kiss me again, this time more gently.

"I really am sorry for not telling you." He murmured against my lips, and I was going to reply when the door began to open. He was away from me in a flash, leaving me blinking at the space where he had been. I managed to see him winking at me before the door opened fully and Caroline and Stefan stepped into the hallway tentatively. Caroline instantly wrapped her arms around me, apparently overcome by emotion or something, I don't know. She squeezed me tightly and I reluctantly hugged her back, slightly uncomfortable by this show of affection. I noticed Stefan looking pointedly at Damon, who had completely regained his composure and was acting like nothing had happened.

"It's getting late." He murmured, glancing at me. "You must be tired Ms. Gilbert. Caroline and Stefan can take you home. I just have a few things to finish up."  
God he was good at this. You wouldn't have known that we had been tangled together against the wall just a few moments ago. But I could act too. I nodded slightly, not looking at him and let Caroline begin to tug me out of the corridor.

"I'll see you later Governor." I murmured as I brushed past him and I caught the tiny grin that spread across his face just before Caroline led me around a corner.

Caroline kept up a stream of chatter in Stefan's sleek black car. I responded with absentminded murmurs, letting my mind drift back to Damon. And his lips. His very very nice lips. If I could think about those, I could stop myself from thinking about whatever was waiting for me back home. Suddenly something struck me and I sat up, cutting off Caroline without much hesitation or concern. I knew I would have to start being nicer at some stage but some things were just too important.

"What am I going to do when I go back to the Pail? Actually, when I am going back?"

Stefan and Caroline exchanged uneasy look.

"Well…Damon thinks that it'd be best for you to not…go back there. At least for the time being." Stefan said carefully and I felt a weird lurch in my stomach when I realised that I wouldn't be seeing my family until…well, I didn't know when. But then guilt washed over me for feeling a little bit of relief too. At least now I wouldn't have to deal with angry mobs or not being able to step outside for fear someone might yell at me.

Stefan glanced back at me, his eyes sympathetic.

"I'm sorry Elena. It won't be forever though, remember that."

I smiled tiredly at him. I liked Stefan, I really did. He was _good, _good to the core and I had met very few people that I could say that about. He was comforting to have around and I could tell by the way that he looked at Caroline that he was totally and utterly in love with her which she deserved however much I ignored her.

We drove into Damon's driveway smoothly and I caught a glimpse of a stunning sunset behind the house. The sky was streaked with pinks and purples and golds and it made me feel a lot better than I had been feeling two minutes ago.

"I think I'm going to have a bath or something." I murmured to the two of them as I followed them into the warm house and they nodded sympathetically. "Tell Damon to come up to talk to me when he gets home, ok?"

Caroline shot a smile at Stefan as she answered me. "Of course honey. Go on up and relax, you've had a long day."

_Too long_, I agreed mentally as I wearily made my way up the stairs and into what was slowly turning into my room. Shrugging out of my cardigan, I rolled my shoulders to soothe my tense muscles as much as possible. This day had been possibly the most stressful out of this whole situation so far, and now I was wondering if I had made it a million times worse by letting my feelings boil up and spill over. But I knew I wouldn't be able to focus properly until my muscles weren't as sore and I was comfortably tucked up in bed so I peeled off my dress and underwear, tossing them in a heap on the bed before grabbing a towel and wrapping it around myself tightly before hurrying to the bathroom.

As the hot water ran into the massive bathtub, I ran my fingers over the array of different oils and bubble baths that lined the shelves. I was tempted to pour in one so I could smell nice for Damon …God, I was an idiot. But the clear, fresh water looked so inviting on its own that I decided against it and let the towel drop as I stepped gingerly into the warm water. Immediately I felt myself relax and I let myself wallow in the heat blissfully. I wasn't going to think about the kiss or Damon or Dad – I couldn't even begin to think about that. I just needed to sit here and be blank for a little while.

I woke with a start. The warmth, combined with the wave like movement of the water had evidently lulled me to sleep. I blinked a few times, wondering how long I'd been out of it. With a sigh, I began to massage shampoo into my hair, inhaling the smell of green apples deeply. I manage to find the matching conditioner and I splodged some of that on too, before washing myself quickly with some lemony soap. I was going to smell like a fruit bowl after this bath but I didn't even care. After rinsing off the apple smelling goop from my now clean hair, I got out of the bath carefully, drying myself down with the fluffy towel I had come with before emptying out the water and beginning to dry my hair with the strange hairdryer thing I had a few days ago. It made my hair all silky and straight again but I just shoved off my face in a bun before scurrying back to the bedroom to search through the drawers for pyjamas. The house was completely silent, so I was guessing Caroline and Stefan had gone to bed or something. I tiptoed back into the room, clutching the towel around me to search through the wardrobe.

What should I _wear_? I mean now that we had kissed. Should I pretend everything was normal and just go for normal cotton button up pyjamas? Or should I go all provocative in silk with straps and the like? Because both of these were accommodated for in the pyjama drawer. Oh man, I had become one of _those _girls. _Pull it together Elena! They're pyjamas!_

I eventually settled for a simple cotton tank top and shorts despite the cold – I knew the heavy duvet would keep me warm. Suddenly I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror beside the door. I hadn't really paid any attention to it before but now, I couldn't look away from the girl in front of me.

She looked a lot different to the girl I had looked at in the dirty reflection of the bathroom mirror in the Pail, that was for sure. She looked a lot healthier – she had lost that barely having enough to eat look and now looked a lot more like a normal, healthy person. Her hair was glossy, and her eyes were bright and…hopeful. Was that me? Had spending a week with the Salvatores really done that to me? I gingerly touched the mirror, a little worried that the image might disappear. But no, it stayed there and I eventually had to turn away, a little freaked out. Water. I needed some water.

I shrugged on the thick black cardigan again and padded out down the stairs into the kitchen. It was completely quiet and strangely peaceful. I filled up a glass of water from the fridge and sipped on it as I leaned against the counter. I was tired and I had to force my eyes not to droop closed.

But then I heard the front door open and instantly I felt wide awake, my heart pounding. The door was shut again quietly and then _he _appeared in the kitchen, tossing his keys on the table and shrugging off his coat before looking up and noticing me.

"Hi." I said softly, feeling weirdly nervous. He seemed to be taking in my pyjama ensemble and I realised that I probably should have worn something that didn't show as much…skin.

"It's late." He said quietly and I shrugged.

"I'm not too tired. It's not been the kind of day that you can fall asleep as soon as your head touches the pillow."

He nodded, his blue eyes intense on ine. "I never thanked you by the way. For helping us out with that."

I smiled slightly. "It's not a problem, Mr. Salvatore. I wouldn't want to disappoint the Governor after all." I said it teasingly, and he smiled, and I realised that he had dark circles under his eyes. With a start, I remembered that he hadn't drunk from me in _days. _

"You're hungry." I said softly and instantly his eyes darkened, although he tried to act like nothing was wrong.

"It's fine Elena, you need to go to bed –"

"Damon, you're hungry and that's the reason I'm here!" Why I was trying to get him to take my blood, I didn't really know. I had been repulsed by the thought a few days ago but now…I was only concerned for him. Good grief I was in deep.

"Elena, the last time it really didn't go well and it's late."

Oh right, I fainted last time. And then he had had to give me his blood and it all just got a bit messy. But I had been a lot…different then. And I…did I want this? I did, if I was being completely honest with myself. I mean I didn't just want any random vampire to stroll up to me and demand my blood but Damon…Damon was a whole other story.

"Damon, please. It's the least I can do."

He was weakening, I could tell. His eyes kept darting to my neck and his teeth were beginning to get sharper and the veins around his eyes were becoming more prominent. He took a step closer, seemingly without really intending to. "I won't hurt you." He promised, his voice a velvety purr and I shivered with apprehension as he gently ran a cool finger down my neck.

"I trust you." I whispered, shutting my eyes as I felt his cool breath on my neck. His teeth grazed down my neck and he put a light hand against the small of my back to support me and I was getting all prepared mentally for the sharp teeth but just as I was positive he was going to bite down, I felt his lips brush against my cheek and then he was gone. I opened my eyes to see him standing at the other side of the kitchen, looking completely normal again.

"You're sweet Ms. Gilbert, but I'm not going to drink from you right now. You're too tired."

I stared at him, feeling a little bit…pouty. Why was I disappointed? He saw this and laughed, his eyes crinkling up in the corners.

"You're very different to the scared girl I met a little while ago." He chuckled and I smiled in spite of myself.

"You've changed me Mr. Salvatore." I told him, half-jokingly but hoping he would understand that I meant it honestly too. I had been a terrified person who didn't really know what_ living_ consisted of. And then he had come into my life and it seemed like my entire world was being lit up by a flash of light and I knew that it would never be the same without him.

"I do try Ms. Gilbert." He said lightly, treating me to a rare sweet smile. "But it really is late, and time for little humans like you to sleep."

As if on cue, I yawned. He smirked triumphantly. "See? I'm always right. Now come on – I'll even tuck you in if you want."

We reached my door and I opened it slowly, glad to see that it wasn't a total mess. I felt like a blushing school girl getting to have a boy in her room for the first time. Except he wasn't coming in obviously.

"Thank you again for all of your help today Elena." He said quietly, leaning against the doorframe. I nodded silently, not really meeting his eye. I was feeling awkward now, not knowing what to do or how to act or anything. So, being the socially awkward Elena that I was, I blurted out "Thanks for kissing me back."

Oh God, the words had actually come out of my mouth. I risked a peek up from under my eyelashes to see him trying not to laugh. "You're too much Ms. Gilbert." He chuckled and suddenly he was kissing me again, pushing me against the wall as his lips moved against mine. Without really thinking about it, I melted against him, feeling his hands on my waist and running my hands through his silky hair. It felt so natural and lovely – like we were made to be slotted together, like a jigsaw puzzle. He trailed his kisses down my jaw and against my neck before following the trail back up to my lips. "You're so beautiful." He murmured and I snorted.

"Please. You're the Greek God, Mr. Salvatore."

_He _snorted, before pulling me away from the wall. I pushed him lightly so he fell onto the bed. I followed, feeling incredibly warm and fuzzy as I felt his arms wrap around me protectively. The kissing was getting more and more heated and passionate until he eventually pulled away, leaving me gasping slightly.

"We're not going to do this, not now. Not like this." He said gently and I nodded. It was all going a bit too fast and rushed. I could handle waiting. However, it was when he went to get up that I had the major problem.

"Where are you going?" My voice was shrill and he looked at me weirdly.

"Bed, darling. It's generally where one goes at night."

I rolled my eyes. Smart alec.

"Will you…will you stay with me tonight?" I asked softly, slightly afraid that he would say no. His eyes got all wide and intense but when I kissed him again, he laughed, relenting.

"I'll stay with you. Just sleeping mind. I don't want to wake up to find you having your wicked way with me." He said sternly and I laughed, thumping him before settling in a more comfortable position on the small bed.

"Just don't leave and we'll be ok." I told him, yawning again and he snorted, his lips brushing against my hair.

"I don't usually stay with my female company throughout the night. You're a lucky girl." He told me and I turned around to grin at him.

"I'm just too brilliant to leave."

He kissed the tip of my nose, laughing a bit too much for my liking.

"Well, congratulations m'lady." He drawled. "Now _sleep_. I'm not going anywhere."

I turned back around so my back was pressed against his chest so he couldn't see my smile as I shut my eyes. I could smell his slight cologne and his leather jacket and I could feel his cool breath at the nape of my neck and I could have sworn that I had never felt happier.

"Good night Damon." I mumbled sleepily and he laughed quietly.

"Good night darling. Sweet dreams."

Oh I would have sweet dreams all right – it would be hard not to with_ him_ sleeping next to me.

**I HOPE I DID DELENA JUSTICE.**

**Please go easy on me. I really don't think this chapter is as good as the others but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. **

**Review, and follow and do what you gotta do!**

**Love y'all – talk soon darlings! **

**x**


	9. Chapter 9

**AGH I'M SORRY THIS IS SO LATE AND I JUST HOPE YOU LIKE IT TBH AND I WON'T STAY FOR TOO LONG BECAUSE IT'S 1AM AND I'M SO FREAKING TIRED BUT I HAVE TYPED MORE AT THE END AND I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH THAT IT HURTS AND JUST ENJOY.**

I woke up to feel his fingertips dancing up and down my arm lightly. I didn't open my eyes for a moment, content to just lie there with him beside me but then he bent down to whisper in my ear.

"Good morning."

I grinned to myself, opening my eyes to see his devastating ones gazing down at me. My first thought was how beautiful he was. My second was what a mess I probably looked - I wasn't a pretty sight in the mornings. I began to think of ways to shimmy out of his grip and sprint to the bathroom to make myself look more normal but he seemed to read my mind, laughing as he kissed the tip of my nose and causing my heart to go into overdrive.

"You look beautiful. And I kept my promise – I stayed."

I nodded breathlessly, and he lightly cupped my cheek with his hand for just a moment before disappearing from my side completely. I blinked for a second, disoriented before rolling over to see him smirking at me from the other side of the room.

"I kept my promise but _now _Ms. Gilbert, I have to go and get my plan for today ready." He began to look through my wardrobe, his gaze lingering on each new outfit.

I propped myself up on one shoulder, raising an eyebrow. "Plan? Damon, you're not going to do anything –"

He cut me off by tossing me a dress. "Put that on. Come down when you're dressed – we'll set off then." With a final grin, he left, leaving me completely confused.

With a weary sigh, I reluctantly crawled out of the bed, examining the dress. It was very pretty – a deep blue tea dress, with a nipped in waistline and three quarter length sleeves. I pulled off my pyjamas and slipped into it quickly over a little blue slip – it fit perfectly and reminded me of my original dress that I had worn for years. That was comforting at least. I yanked on a pair of grey tights and slipped on a pair of flat pumps before dragging a brush through my hair (still silky from the night before) and scraping it up into a bun. I gave myself a dubious glance in the mirror – I looked so _girly_. I was used to having to look as tough as possible in the Pail, so nobody picked on me. But I suppose I had Damon to protect me now. I had taken ten minutes to get ready but I didn't want to delay any longer – I was genuinely worried about what he was planning.

I hurried out of the room, nearly crashing into Stefan as I did so. "Sorry, sorry!" I babbled. He smiled warmly, steadying me gently.

"It's not a problem. Damon said something about going somewhere with you?"

I nodded, and clearly the unease was evident on my face because he laughed. "Don't be too worried. I think you'll enjoy it – Damon certainly doesn't hold back when it comes to surprises. Have a nice time – we'll see you when you get back."

He smiled again, before ambling past me and back into their bedroom. I smiled after him, again feeling all warm because Stefan had that influence on people. Then I heard Damon calling me and I trotted down the stairs quickly.

I turned into the kitchen and found him standing in the middle of the room, an eyebrow raised. "Ready to go?" He asked and I nodded, all prepared to begin a whole speech about how I didn't want to be dragged anywhere I didn't want to be but before I could, he was roughly pressing his lips to mine, making me lose my train of thought. He pulled away and I let him pull me out of the kitchen to the front door in a daze.

"Where are you taking me?" I questioned, not really caring anymore as long as I got to kiss him again. He grinned at me, throwing open the door and gesturing to his car. "We, my little firecracker, are going on a trip. I'm going to show you how beautiful Mystic Falls is beyond the Pail and the Shire."

I stared at him. _Beyond _the Pail and the Shire? I was pretty sure that was all Mystic Falls consisted of. But he was opening the car door for me, raising an eyebrow expectantly, and I sighed resignedly, sliding into the car.

"You look lovely, by the way. Whoever chose that dress clearly has a good eye for style." He smirked at me as he sat gracefully into the driver's seat. I rolled my eyes but couldn't keep the tiny smile off my face as we speeded out of his driveway. He reached into the backseat and pulled something forward, handing it to me. I realised with a start that it was the incredible book I had never finished – _The Purple Haven_.

"I'd go ahead and read that if I were you. It'll be a while before we get there."

My fingers trailed over the faded cover and I could practically feel the world of literature beckoning me. I glanced up at him to see him smiling warmly at me. I hesitated as I opened the page of the book where I had left off.

"Are you sure? I asked. "I don't want to be antisocial."

He laughed, turning sharply down a road I had never seen before. "Of course. Go ahead. I want to know what you think of it."

I watched him for a few moments before giving in and curling up my feet beneath me, remerging myself in the book. And we drove on and on in companionable silence, protected from the cold outside in the warmth of the car and it struck me – for the second time in the past few days – that I was probably the happiest I had ever been. It was hard not to be with this god beside me.

"We're here."

I looked up sharply, startled out of my little bubble. Damon was unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of the car, and I was left on my own for a few seconds until he reappeared to open my door. I climbed out slowly and gazed around in awe.

We were in a meadow or field or something, I wasn't sure. All I knew was that it was absolutely beautiful. The grass was a bright merry green, slightly frosty from the cold weather, and there was a crystal blue waterfall cascading down into a circular lake. Snow drops were clustered around the edge of the water, and a huge tree draped its branches in a huge canopy above a rug on the grass. On the rug there were various colourful cushions, and…_picnic baskets_?

"I thought we could have a taste testing of all of the delicacies of the Shire you are yet to try." He purred in my ear from behind me and I jumped, making him chuckle.

"I didn't know you had a romantic side Damon Salvatore." I teased lightly. "Be careful – you don't want to get too soft."

He chuckled, brushing the hair off my neck to kiss it lightly before pushing me gently to the rug. I curled up on it, leaning against the trunk of the tree. Damon tossed me a blanket and I wrapped it around myself, grinning as he dramatically began to pull items out of the picnic basket.

"To start with, we have delicious ciabatta bread topped with tomatoes." He handed me a small plate of the little dish and I inhaled the warmth, the herby smell tickling my nose. I looked up and I could see the poorly disguised excitement in his eyes as he watched me, so hopeful that I would enjoy this little date and I knew at that moment that how I felt about Damon Salvatore, I had never felt before. But I couldn't tell him that obviously, not yet. So instead I mock rolled my eyes, holding up the little plate.

"So how do I go about eating this?"

About ten plates later, I was absolutely stuffed – and a little bit drunk from the wine Damon kept refilling my glass with. I had stopped protesting after the third glass and was now giggling at pretty much everything. Damon was laughing with me, shooting me question after question. He wanted to know _everything_, from my favourite flower to my earliest memory. I let my gaze drift from his beautiful eyes to the whole scene behind us. As soon as it had got dark, little fairy lights that were arranged around the entire park had turned on, lighting up the place like a fairy grotto, and lanterns of various colours hung from the tree branches, emitting a cheery glow.

"Wait, wait wait." I laughed, holding up my hands in defeat. "At least let me ask _one _question."

He smiled slightly, sitting back. "Fire ahead then."

I grinned triumphantly before trying extremely hard to think of a good question. Damon didn't open up too often so I knew I had to take advantage of the opportunity but the wine was making my mind feel fuzzy.

"Why do you care what I think about that book so much?"

Ok, it had kind of slipped out without me really meaning to let it but I was curious. His eyes lit up whenever he saw I was reading it and it had piqued my interest as to why. When I saw his weird look, I hastened to explain.

"The first time you gave me the book, you asked what I thought about it and when I told you it was only ok, you looked so _disappointed_ and I was just wondering why."

He smirked, glancing down at the tattered copy on the rug. (I had insisted on bringing it with us from the car.)

"Before I answer that, let me ask you one more question."

I made a face at his complete inability to do exactly as I wanted and he rolled his eyes before continuing.

"What did you think of the book?"

I wasn't expecting that. I hesitated, wondering whether I should play it cool.

"It's the best thing I've ever read. I feel like it expanded my mind to ten times the size and I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time and the characters were so beautiful and whenever I read it, it was like being plunged into another universe and I really don't want it to end."

So I had decided against the playing it cool thing then. I blurted this whole speech out in a single sentence in one breath and he looked slightly alarmed throughout. When I eventually finished, I took a deep gasp of air, before trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

He was laughing though, and there was…_relief_ on his face?

Along with a smug smirk of course.

"Thank you." He said simply and this time it was me rolling my eyes at his obvious pandering for me to question him further.

"Go on then Mr. Mysterious." I teased, nudging him with my foot. "Explain yourself."

He hesitated a moment to add to the suspense before shrugging. "I wrote the book."

I hadn't heard him right, I couldn't have. But he was handing me the book, indicating two tiny initials on the cover where the author's name should be.

_D.S._

Oh my God, he was telling the truth.

"_You wrote this_?" I shrieked, jumping up. "Why didn't you tell me?" Warmth was spreading across my cheeks from embarrassment at the gushing I had done. He stood up, raising an eyebrow as he stepped towards me.

"I thought you liked it."

"I mean…well yeah, I did but I didn't know _you _wrote it –"

He cut me off by kissing me, something that had become his latest tactic. Not that I was complaining.

"I promise I won't do something like that to you again, ok?" He murmured and I nodded breathlessly, his intense eyes overwhelming. Usually at this point, he pulled away but this time he didn't. He just stood, my back pressed against the tree, smiling slightly at the feel of my pounding heart against his chest.

"You're so beautiful." He said suddenly and I snorted, causing him to frown. "You _are_. It's like I'm under your spell and I'm quite sure that I would do nearly anything you asked."

A thought popped into my mind and I had to bite back the smile tugging at my lips. "Anything?" I asked innocently and a smirk appeared on his face.

"My mean-ness has been rubbing off on you Ms. Gilbert, but I suppose I asked for that. What do you want me to do?"

I tipped my head over his shoulder to the lake. "I want you to jump into that. As punishment for not telling me."

He snorted before a mischievous smile spread across his beautiful face. "I will if you come with me."

I bit my lip but couldn't hold back my smile. He grinned at me before beginning to unbutton his shirt.

"Come on then. You're not getting that new dress wrecked; I only bought it for you yesterday."

I rolled my eyes, reaching down to pull off the silky fabric with more confidence than I felt. He was now only in his black jeans, having kicked off his socks and shoes. Since he was Damon, he saw my hesitation and cupped my cheek lightly. "You're beautiful." He said softly and I grinned at him, feeling a sudden burst of confidence. I yanked the dress off quickly, and kicked off the grey tights so I was just in my underwear and the slip before giving him a little push on his bare shoulder.

"Let's go then."

He chuckled, grabbing my hand and leading me to the edge of the lake. It was crystal clear, and even in the darkness, I could see to the bottom of it.

"This is going to be freezing, isn't it?" I complained, wrapping my arms around myself as the cold air blew gently against me. Damon smiled to himself, crouching down to dip a hand into the water.

"It's fine actually. I wouldn't stress about it –" He had to stop because I had caught him off guard and pushed him into the water. He disappeared under for a few seconds before reappearing, bobbing on top of the lake dripping wet. He was laughing though, running his hands through his wet hair to push it off his face and I caught sight of a very nicely muscular arm for a moment as I curled over laughing.

"You shouldn't have let your guard down, you idiot." I told him through my hysterics. He grinned, swimming up to the edge and holding out a hand. "Help me up?"

I rolled my eyes, scrambling away from him. "I'm not falling for that trick Salvatore. You're not getting me anywhere near that freezing water – DAMON!"

He had sprung out of the water momentarily to grab me, his soaking body pressing against mine before he all but dropped me into the lake. I braced myself for the total chill of the icy water but instead I was pleasantly surprised to find it was actually warm – I was guessing that Damon had installed something in the place to make it this temperature. I kicked my way up to the top, gasping as I broke the surface.  
"Not fair!" I called to Damon, who was laughing at the side of the lake. He grinned before diving elegantly back in and swimming up to me.  
"I don't play _fair, _Ms. Gilbert. I play by my own rules." He told me and I splashed him before looking around. Herein the water, everything looked even more beautiful.

"This is lovely." I said honestly, and he laughed.

"You haven't even seen all of the angles of the waterfall yet."

I suddenly felt fingers entwine with mine and I looked around to find Damon tugging me gently towards the waterfall. I let him pull me and he led me around the edge of the cascading water to what turned out to be a little cave type thing behind it. I padded onto the rocky ledge carefully, grinning at him as he followed me. He was right, the waterfall was even nicer from this view. The water shimmered and I could see the fair lights through it. The water dripping from my slip was beginning to irritate me and without really overthinking it, I pulled it off and threw it to a sopping heap on the ground before turning around to face Damon. I expected to see him smirking at me, all prepared with some smart ass comment but instead his eyes were burning into mine, more intense than usual as he seemingly took me in. I opened my mouth to speak but no words had come out. The atmosphere had changed and I simultaneously dive back into the water or splash him or something to lighten the mood and throw myself at him and kiss him until I was dizzy. Since I was still feeling confident from the wine, I decided to just let whatever was going to happen, happen.

"You're gorgeous." He murmured, closing the distance between us and smoothing down my wet hair. This time, it was me who kissed him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him as close as possible. His fingers were dancing up and down my skin, settling at my waist.

"Thank you so much for bringing me here." I whispered, leaning my forehead against his. He shrugged, glancing around.  
"I thought you might like it and you know me Ms. Gilbert – always the romantic."

I grinned, rolling my eyes until he kissed me again. "You're the most amazing woman I've ever met." He purred, trailing his lips from my mouth to my jaw to my neck. I let out a tiny mewl as he lightly nibbled on a part of my neck that was making me melt. He groaned, turning and pushing me against the wall of the cave and beginning to kiss pretty much everywhere on my chest up. I ran my hands through his damp hair, revelling in the glorious fact that he was Damon, a terrifying vampire and the governor of Mystic Falls and I was Elena, human but he was still kissing me. As his kisses got more heated and passionate, I felt a weird overwhelming urge to let him drink from me. I pulled his head back up to my neck and immediately he understood. His teeth sharpened and his eyes darkened and he wasted very little time in choosing a spot to bite – the exact spot that had made me melt a few minutes ago. I would have protested because I didn't want to lose total control but I didn't have time – his fangs sank into my neck, with only a moment of stinging pain before total ecstasy washed over me.

I wouldn't have been surprised if he was doing something to contribute to the bliss but I didn't even care – I didn't care about anything but him and me and the fact that I was able to give something to him that he needed. He was making tiny groaning noises – of pleasure I hoped – and I felt one of his cool hands caress the other side of my neck lightly.

After a few minutes, he ran his silky tongue lightly over the two small holes and pulled away, leaving me slightly dizzy but feeling rather pleased with myself for not fainting. He cupped my cheek with his hand, rubbing his thumb back and forth slowly.

"Thank you." He murmured and I before looking around.

"Do you want to…go back to the house?" I asked shyly, blushing. "I mean this place is stunning but it's not exactly…" He smirked, his eyes crinkling in the corners.

"It's not comfortable?" He finished and I nodded, my cheeks flaming red. "Come on then, let's get out of here." He chuckled, offering me his hand to which I snorted and shoved him back into the water. Before he could remerge, I grabbed my slip from the ground and dived in, swimming as quickly as I could away from him so he wouldn't catch me. I was an idiot, of course, and he was a vampire with insane strength and speed. I made it to just in front of the waterfall before he appeared in front of me.

"Normally Ms. Gilbert, I would be extremely irritated at such antics but it's hard to be angry at you when you're not wearing any clothes."

This caused me to blush again but I just smirked at him, kissing him quickly before swimming past him to the side of the lake, clambering out inelegantly. He followed, (a lot more gracefully obviously) and laughed when he saw me shivering with the sudden cold a few metres away.

"Come on -there's blankets in the car."

When we pulled into the Salvatore driveway, I began to feel intensely shy and awkward. All of the lights in the house were off, indicating that Caroline and Stefan had gone to bed – this was probably for the best, if we didn't want to be questioned about every part of the night that was to come by the blonde haired girl. Damon stopped the car and cleared his throat to fill the silence.

"Are you sure-"

"Yes."

My answer left no room for gentle suggestions. I wanted what I wanted and I was going to get what I wanted, dammit. I would just feel extremely awkward getting it. We sat in silence for another few moments before Damon got out of the car and opened my door. I got out slowly, clutching the warm blanket around myself tightly.

"Well, you'd best have a shower to warm up. I'll make you some hot cocoa or something. Use the shower in my room though – you don't want to wake up Stefan or Caroline." He said this last part with a wink and I had to smile in spite of myself. He opened the front door and waited for me to go in first – ever the gentleman – before gesturing in the direction of the stairs.

"My room is on the third floor, third door on your right. Use the shower for as long as you like."

I smiled slightly at him before making my way up the stairs, slightly distracted from my nerves by my curiosity to see Damon's room. I padded softly past Stefan and Caroline's room and up the stairs to the fourth floor. _Third door on the right, third door on the right…_here it was. I hesitated for a moment before throwing open the door.

I don't really know what I expected – maybe a completely black room or something? But no, it was actually very tasteful. There was wood panelling on the walls, and wooden floors covered by a luxurious rug half the size of the room. There was a massive window, and stacks of leather bound books around the…massive bed, oh my god. It was the biggest thing I had ever seen, with a thick bed frame and crisp white sheets. I took it in for a moment, my heart thumping in my chest before I spun around to see the bathroom. It was pretty much the same size as the room, with a free standing bath tub, shower and a huge mirror above two sinks side by side. There was a stack of fluffy white towels, one of which I gratefully grabbed and threw over the side of the shower before peeling off my remaining clothes, scraping my hair into a bun so it wouldn't get wet and stepping into the steaming hot water.

Instantly I felt better, standing still in the warm spray. It soothed my tired muscles and was gradually making the feeling come back to my fingers and toes. The two little bite marks on my neck were hurting slightly, and I let my fingers drift up to them, lightly touching them. They stung, sure, but I didn't even care. I had been able to help Damon and that was all that mattered and…Oh God, I had turned into a mess, hadn't I?

At some stage during my musings, Damon must have come into the bedroom because I heard him call my name.

"You ok in there?"

I turned off the shower quickly, not wanting to leave him standing out there for ages on his own. "Be out in a second!" I called back, grabbing the towel and wrapping it tightly around myself before internally panicking when I realised that I didn't really have anything to properly cover myself with. I could hardly put on my wet underwear again, could I? I basically began yelling at myself in my head for being such an idiot until eventually I heard a quiet knock on the door.

"Is everything alright Elena?"

_No no no NO._

"Yeah of course!" I called cheerily. "I just don't…really…have…clothes?"

He snorted. "Do you have a towel?"

I nodded before realising that he couldn't see it. "Yes!"

"Well, just come out in that. I'm not going to faint with shock, I promise." He sounded so _calm. _Clearly he wasn't as terrified by the thought as I was. But I knew I could only hide in here for so long so I took a deep breath and shakily made my way to the door, opening it slowly.

He had only slipped an open shirt on over his bare chest, and he was still wearing his damp jeans.

Oh my, he looked nice.

"See? I told you it wouldn't be a problem." He murmured and my heart fluttered in a way that probably wasn't healthy. And for once, I decided to act on it. I decided to throw myself into his arms, and pull his head down so my lips were pressed against his and I decided to tell him what we were going to do tonight. Involving his bed.

Damon Salvatore was a bad influence on me.

But of course, he had no objection my plans. So it was him who gently tugged me onto the bed. And we stayed there for the rest of the night.

I woke up with a desperate urge to pee. My only problem however, is that I was entangled in Damon's arms, in a rather vice like grip. I had to murmur to him to stop strangling me before he released me, allowing me to clamber out of the luxurious bed to hurry to the bathroom. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I passed – my hair was a tangled, crazy mess and I was wearing one of Damon's shirts. I had to admit, I kind of liked it as a look. I grinned, allowing myself one little happy dance before sprinting to the toilet.

I spent a few extra minutes in there, sprucing and brushing my teeth and washing my face. I hadn't got a chance to do it all last night as I had been a bit…preoccupied. Just as I was beginning to look like myself, I heard a weird noise from the bedroom. I smiled to myself, assuming that Damon had properly woken up and was now wondering where I was.

I opened the bathroom door with a beam on my face as I sang "Good morning sunshine!"

But my chirpy tone changed instantly to a scream. A long, continuous scream that I wasn't sure was ever going to end. Standing in front of me was Alaric Saltzman and my dad, and behind them…Damon lay motionless in the bed, blood pooling around him and…a _dagger _in his back?

"Hello Elena." Father said calmly. "Fancy seeing you here."

**AGH. I really hoped you liked it and again, sorry for the delay. I've been so busy blah blah. But I am extremely dedicated – I stayed up until 1am typing this on Christmas night! I think that makes up for everything, right? **

**But yes, thank you for all of the gorgeous reviews and the following and the favouriting and** **following and you're all just so lovely that it warms my heart.**

**Thank you so much for reading and I hope you liked Delena. I can't write sex scenes, so I saved you the misery of it. Plus, this is a T rated story, come on people ;) **

**Merry (late) Christmas if you celebrate it and if you don't, I hope you had a lovely Tuesday 25****th****. **

**Talk to you soon my darlings,**

**X**

**(If you think about it – if every person who read this, left a review – we would be the most reviewed in the Delena category. Just something to mull over ;D)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Woah new update within a few days of the last one! Is this a rare event or what? :D But I got such an overwhelmingly lovely response to the last chapter that I couldn't not update soon. Plus, it would have been mean to leave y'all with such a cliff hanger for too long. ****_This_** **is the chapter that contains the thing I was telling you about a little while ago, the thing that will make you hate me forever. I'm weirdly excited to put this chapter up – it's kind of the most action-y one I've written. (So far. Don't worry, we'll be seeing more of badass Elena soon.) I really do hope you enjoy it though. The next chapter probably won't be so speedy because there will be a ****_lot _****to write in that chapter but hopefully I can be speedy. I have exams soon you see, so I have to study and all of that jazz, but I can't these days because I just start daydreaming about this!**

**In case I forget at the bottom, I just want to thank you for all of the delightfully sweet, funny and charming reviews. I have people telling me that they love this fanfic, that it's their favourite fanfic, heck, I even got a review from a Stelena lover who said that they love this story! If you do write, you'll know how heartwarming any sort of kind response is and I can't thank you enough. (Literally as I type this, I got one from swagatamalfoy saying they love this story and agh thank you so much! Plus, a Harry Potter fan – ten points to you my friend.)**

**Secondly, I was wondering if any of you had any sort of ideas for the ****_next _****one. Don't get me wrong, we have a good while to go before YQTLF is finished but I love to get new ideas and play with them in my head. If you think of any, don't be afraid to drop me a review or a PM – I will read and consider each and every one, I promise! :D**

**Anyway, enough from me. I'll let you get on and – enjoy!**

_"Hello Elena." Father said calmly. "Fancy seeing you here."_

My heart stopped entirely for a moment. Was he dead? But then he groaned, turning slightly and I was relieved for only a moment when I saw he had stakes jammed into about seven different places on his body, not to mention the dagger in his back. I tried to push past them to get to him but of course, Alaric gripped my by the shoulders and threw me back, knocking me to the floor.

"What the hell are you doing here? What did you do to him?" I screeched at the two men as I scrambled up, not even caring about the attire I was in. Father seemed to though, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I warned you that we were coming Elena. Your birthday?"

I stared at him. Did he think that that stupid little threat in the government building had been a _warning? _My birthday wasn't for months! Had he gone so crazy that he had forgotten when his own daughter had been born?

"Don't you remember? I used to have to work on the railway when it was your birthday so we began to celebrate it in the winter."

My mind flashed back to a few foggy memories of all of us gathering in the kitchen, with maybe a rock bun Mom had saved for for weeks with an already melted down candle stuck in the middle of it in front of me as we celebrated…my birthday. But had he really thought that I would _remember?_

"That was years ago!" I cried, and he shrugged.

"You should have worked it out. Maybe then you wouldn't have let that leech fuck you on the night we were coming."

I knew it would be a waste of breath explaining that I had actual feelings for this man – _not a leech –_so I didn't bother. Instead, I looked at them like they were mad. Well, they were.

"What are you doing here? _How _are you here?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"We're here to kill the governor of Mystic Falls so the rightful leaders – _humans _– can rule. And getting out of that shack they call a prison was simple – all we needed was a little vervain gas in the air vents and the leeches were dropping like flies."

Oh my giddy aunt, he had gone completely insane. I wasn't sure how he had escaped from prison or got the 'vervain gas' – Alaric had helped him, no doubt. Speaking of the grimy, messy haired lunatic, he was stepping towards me, practically snarling at me.

"I think that your daughter may have decided whose side she's on before the war has even begun." He hissed to Dad, his eyes raking over my messy bed hair, Damon's shirt and...His eyes settled on the two bite marks at the side of my neck. In fact, they might have been both sides after last night. Oops.

Dad glowered at me, muttering something about _traitors _under his breath before he turned to Damon, smirking down at his twitching form.

"Vervained stakes." He laughed triumphantly, pressing one down harder and causing Damon to moan in pain and me to flinch. He looked up at me, his eyes gleaming with wild excitement. "The dagger's just for show."

"Did you not think this through?" I asked desperately, clutching at any straws now. "You have one vampire staked and a few gassed with vervain – big deal! What about the hundreds of others, who could literally rip your head off in an instant?"

Alaric laughed, his voice cruel. "They're all in the same state as him, sunshine. We put vervain in the water system excluding this house so there would be no...suspicions, which means that they either drank it themselves or the humans that they drank from had vervain in their system, _meaning_ that they're easy to take care of."

_Take care of? What the hell were they planning?_

Oh no.

Stefan and Caroline.

Without thinking, I shoved past Alaric and out of the room, sprinting down to Stefan and Caroline's door. I threw it open, and…the beds were empty and completely unslept in. Oh God. How long had they been gone? Yesterday when we came home, I had just assumed they were asleep. How had I been such an _idiot_? I turned to see Alaric standing at the doorframe.

"What have you done to my friends?" I hissed and he laughed.  
"We've taken care of them. They're with the others. But right now sweetheart, we're more concerned about you. Your dad may be ready to put this down to the main bloodsucker, but I see right through you, you little slut. Sleeping with that vampire, was that your way of getting back at us? Well, it was the worst move you ever made, let me assure you of that."

Without even hesitating, I slapped him hard across the face. "You don't know _anything_." I hissed at him through gritted teeth. He raised his head, eyes flashing with white hot fury.

"I'd learn to respect those who have control over you girl." He snarled at me, grabbing my wrist and twisting it painfully behind my back. I flashed back to the whole ordeal in the Pail, when I had been confronted by Alaric Saltzman and I remembered thinking that without an army and vervained stakes, Alaric Saltzman was a coward, someone not worth worrying about.

The problem was that now he had both stakes _and _an army. Which meant he was very much someone to worry about.

Father appeared at the bottom of the stairs, shaking his head in disgust at me before glancing at Alaric. "Put her in the car. I'll have the boys come and deal with our little problem upstairs."

Fear racked through me. "You can't kill him!" I screeched, struggling desperately to get out of this idiot's tight grip. They laughed and he twisted my wrist further, causing me to gasp in pain.

"You needn't worry about him anymore darling. It's not like you'll remember him in a few hours."

I snorted at this comment. Of course I would remember Damon – I was hardly going to forget him after everything that had happened.

But it was as Alaric shoved me, forcing me to walk forward, that I realised what they meant.

They were going to do something to make me forget.

Oh God no.

And there was absolutely no way I would be able to stop them. My vervain necklace which protected me from this kind of nonsense was somewhere in the house. I had never got it back after Damon had taken it from me that first day.

I immediately froze, despite his pushing and looked straight at Dad, meeting his raised eyebrow full on.

"You're going to mess with my mind." I said, knowing that it wasn't a question. When he didn't answer, I wrenched my wrist free of Alaric's tight grip and stalked up to him until I was just a few inches away from the man I was forced to call my father.

"Elena, it's for your own good." He hissed, taking a step back.

"Getting rid of my memories so you can mould me into the person you want me to be is for _my own good?" _I cried, continuing to move towards him. His eyes were darting to behind me now but I wasn't going to give Alaric the satisfaction of thinking that I considered him enough of a threat to turn around. Instead, I kept my eyes locked on my father's pale grey ones.

"You can try all you want to erase my memory. You can compel me, you can torture me, you can do whatever. And you know what? It might even work for a little while. But you won't ever be able to keep me away from him. You won't ever be able to stop me from choosing good over bad. And you won't ever be able to turn me into the daughter that you want. You can claim all you want that he played tricks with my mind, but it was _you _who made a deal to send me here. Not him. And to tell you the truth, _Grayson –_ it was the best decision you ever made."

I was quite proud of that speech actually. But I didn't get much time to feel triumphant or even hear his response. (Maybe that was for the best. It would have contained a lot of swearing. At me.) Because a second after the last word had left my mouth, I felt something hard and metal connect with the back of my head – the butt of a gun. _Damn Alaric Saltzman_. After that, all I could see was the ground rushing towards me.

And then everything went black.

I woke up with an awful headache, on a cold concrete floor. Groggily, I sat up, wincing and peered around through squinted eyes. I was in….was this a _prison cell? _I couldn't really focus properly on anything – my vision was too blurry. Everything that had happened rushed back to me and I lightly felt the back of my head where I had been hit. A huge tender lump was throbbing there and I sighed, rubbing my forehead wearily. Where on earth was Damon? Was he even still alive? The idea that he mightn't be was too painful to entertain, so I pushed it to the back of my mind quickly.

"Elena."

I spun around – bad idea. My head was spinning for a good few moments until I could finally work out who it was.

It was Dad.

He was on the other side of the locked bars of the cell – probably a wise choice so that I didn't lunge at him. He was sitting on the single plank of wood attached to the wall that was acting as a bench. He looked solemn and serious; wearing a stupid suit that I was sure had cost the same amount that would have fed the family for a month.

"What am I doing here?" I asked hoarsely, standing up shakily. "Dad, why am I in a cell?"

He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "I never wanted this for you, you know. I always knew that you would be the one who would follow in my footsteps. But then you didn't."

I stared at him for a moment before shaking my head. "I was never that girl Dad. I never will be that daughter. And as soon as you realised that, you abandoned me."

He stood up angrily, glaring at me. "I didn't abandon you! I did everything I could to support you, to support all of you!"

"You stopped supporting us the moment that stupid Liberation Militia saw that you were idiotic enough to be enticed into their little cult."

His features contorted into a snarl and he glowered at me. "That 'cult' is working for the good of Mystic Falls and you should be proud to have a father who's the leader of such an important rebellion." He spat and I couldn't hold back my bark of a laugh.

"The 'good' of Mystic Falls? Dad, you're deranged! You believe some stupid lie that you've been fed by _them_. When have the vampires actually done any harm? And don't give me that bullshit about them forcing us to live in the Pail because it was the humans who decided to move and not integrate with them and you know it."

This little snippet of information had been given to me by Damon while we were lying together after our little rendez vous in his bed. The thought made my heart ache a little bit actually, so I tried to focus on Dad who wasn't denying it and was in fact looking a little stunned.

"You told us that it was their fault for as long as I can remember. And it was a lie. You put so much work into defeating a lie. They're good people Dad. They're caring and they're loving and they're willing to talk with us." When he didn't interrupt me, I was stupid enough to feel a flicker of hope in the bottom of my stomach so I continued. "You can stop this. You can stop all of this and you can make everything right. For once in all of the time I've been alive, do the right thing."

I really thought for a moment that he was going to do it. But then he shook his head and began to make his way out of sight of the cell. "We're going to fix you Elena. Once you forget them all, you'll be the daughter you should have been. I should never have agreed to that deal but I didn't ever have a choice. But it's…it'll be put right now." He muttered, before disappearing completely. I heard footsteps as he made his way upstairs and my heart sank. I had lost him completely and in a few minutes, I would have lost myself.

I had to think of something quickly.

I was still wearing Damon's shirt and I began to search through the pockets hurriedly for something,_ anything_ that I could use. And then I found it. On the inside pocket, just concealed was…a small notebook and a pen. And instantly I knew what I could do.

Oh, God bless you Damon Salvatore.

I quickly began to write with my messy, scrawling handwriting. Much to my joy, the words came flowing without many stops – although it was hard to put what I wanted to say into words. I could practically feel the seconds ticking by as I scribbled desperately; sweat beginning to bead on my forehead. It was when I heard the footsteps coming back down the stone steps that I signed my name quickly and slipped it back into the pocket I had found it. This plan would either work or it wouldn't – there would be no middle ground, no half working.

Dad reappeared into view, followed by Alaric who was pulling a small red headed girl by the arm. She had blotchy cheeks and her eyes were red – she'd been crying.

"This, Elena, is Bonnie, and she's being so lovely as to help us today." Alaric told me, grinning cruelly as he yanked the poor girl to in front of the bars. "She's going to assist us in making you forget all about those…_leeches_." He unlocked the bars and pulled them open just enough to shove her in, causing her to stumble into me. I caught her gingerly, putting my hands on her dainty shoulders to steady her.

"Oh I wouldn't be getting too close to her sweetheart." Alaric leered as he locked the door again. "She's a vampire, and the only reason she's still alive is because she promised to compel you for us."

Immediately I let go of this little woman, taking a step back. She looked up at me with large brown eyes, her face tired. "I'm so sorry." She whispered, her voice cracking. "But they…they have my Matt and I just…I can't let anything happen to him. They _tortured _him in front of me and I just…I'm so sorry."

Although I wasn't able to force myself to smile reassuringly, I did drop the hostile stance. After all, this Bonnie girl seemed to be like me – just wanting to protect the one she loved.

"Get on with it please ginger, we don't have all day." Alaric said snappily and I glared at him before turning back to her before pulling her in for a hug, quickly beginning to speak into her ear.

"You need to do something for me though, ok?" I said urgently, lowering my voice so only she would be able to hear. Her nod was almost unnoticeable but I smiled when I felt it and continued. "You need to tell Damon Salvatore to not give up, no matter what. Got it?" Again, a barely noticeable nod but still a nod nonetheless. When I pulled away, she was tearing up again but she brushed them away almost angrily before glancing around at the two men.

"As we discussed, ginger." Dad snapped, not looking at me. Bonnie nodded, blinking before turning around and smiling sadly at me before her pupils expanded then contracted and instantly I was frozen, my mind turning blank.

"You will forget all about the last month of your life. Any memories you have of any vampires you met and made relationships with will be gone, and you will have no recollection of ever being in the Shire. You will want to be loyal to the human leaders and under no circumstances will you attempt to run away from them. Understood?"

I nodded without hesitation and she smiled slightly before lowering her voice so only I could hear. "But when you find your love again, you'll be free of all of these binds. The memories may come back to you over time but they will come back. I promise." I went to nod again but she shook her head slightly, smiling. "Don't want to let them know." She whispered before raising her voice to normal level. "Now you're going to sleep for a little while. An hour. And when you wake up, everything I've said will be enforced."

Her pupils contracted and I blinked, my eyelids becoming heavy. The last image I got before they shut completely was Alaric opening the cell door and pulling her out roughly. I heard her scream but after that, I don't know what happened because my mind went blank and I fell into a deep sleep.

**AGH I HOPE THAT WAS OK AND YOU ENJOYED IT. **

**I don't think anyone predicted the being forced to forget Damon thing. ACTUALLY could you leave predictions for what you think will happen? :D I love reading those so so much!**

**Anyway, thank you so much for reading and I'll see you soon my darlings,**

**X**

**(*Insert usual begging for reviews, follows, favourites, anything really.)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi darlings! Again, a little bit sluggish because it's 2a.m. but I'm willing to stay up for y'all! This is a long chapter, and possibly a little delayed but there was a bit of drama during the last few days…a few of you may know about it. Regardless, it's fixed now and all is good in the Delena world.**

**I hope you enjoy this! :D I got some really lovely theories that I adored reading – a lot of you wanted Elena to torture Damon, you sadists! There is none of that, I'll let you down early. But I hope it satisfies your Delena craving!**

**As always, I love you so much. We're one off 200 follows, that's insane! Thank you so much for everything – y'all are the best readers a girl could dream of.**

**Enjoy! **

**(5000 words, you better enjoy. Or else.)**

I opened my eyes and stared up at…wait. This wasn't my usual, cracked ceiling from home. This ceiling was smooth and newly painted.

_What the hell?_

I sat up, and found I was lying on a freshly made bed in…was this a _man's _shirt? Where was my dress that I always wore? I went to scrape my hand through my hair – hang on, why was it so _soft?_ And straight and silky and what in God's name was going on?

I rolled off the bed and looked around. I was in a small bedroom – still bigger than my one in the Pail. It was furnished with clinical white sheets and furniture. There was a small wardrobe in the corner, and when I opened it, I found my usual old dress hanging alone on a hanger. Well, at least I had that.

I quickly slid out of the shirt – oh Lordy, I was completely naked underneath. There was a small cracked mirror on the inside of the wardrobe door and I took a moment to examine myself carefully. I looked…different. It looked like I had gained weight and now looked _healthy _as opposed to starving. My hair was shiny and glossy too actually and I touched it lightly, slightly freaked out by its softness. But my eyes…I looked practically dead, with bags and deep dark purple rings, contrasted starkly by my practically ghost white skin. Another thing that stood out on my pale skin were the…were they _bite marks _on my neck? There was a sizable painful lump on the back of my head too, like I had been attacked or something.

What on Earth was going on?

I quickly pulled on some underwear and the dress – it didn't fit as well as it had the last time I had worn it. The last thing I remembered was…going to bed in the Pail. Dad had been out at a LM meeting – at the time, I hadn't felt pleased about it. I didn't know why now though. After all, the LM was doing everything they could to make us safe again from those vampires. He had been planning a big raid on the government documents and I knew that there had been a lot of risk that he may have been caught.

I pulled open the door and peered out into the empty hallway lined with doors. There were distant voices coming from one door a little bit down so I shut my door quietly and tiptoed across the plushy carpet to where the sound was coming from. As I got closer, I realised with relief that it was my mother and father's voice – although it sounded like they were having a rather heated conversation.

"You did _what_ to our daughter?" Mum was yelling, and Dad sighed audibly.

"I _protected _her sweetheart. Now she'll be waking up at any moment so if you could just get a grip and stop screeching, it'd be brilliant."

Done to me? What had he _done_ to me?

"How dare you? All I've ever done is support you! And then you decide you want to separate me when it suits but as soon as you need a wife to make you look good, you _sweep _back in like you've done nothing wrong? Well I'm not going to take it anymore Grayson, I just won't."

"Now you listen to me, you little –"

It was at this point that I decided to knock sharply on the door. Immediately the conversation stopped and I heard footsteps before the door was opened gingerly and I found myself looking at my mother.

She was looking at me with…fear? That was weird.

"You ok?" I asked slowly and she nodded quickly, blinking and stepping back so I could walk into the pretty much identical to the other one room. The only difference was that it was bigger and with a double bed. My father stood at the window, looking at me with vague trepidation, the vein in his forehead still throbbing from their argument. Had I done something wrong? Was there a reason why everyone was acting like I was going to start screaming at any second?

"Good afternoon Elena." Dad said lightly and I nodded in response, perching at the edge of the bed.

"What are we doing here?" I asked, gesturing around and he seemed to consider his answer carefully before answering. "This is one of the LM's safehouses pumpkin. They moved us here. There's been a few…well, a lot happened while you were asleep."

"Like?" I prompted, raising an eyebrow.

He hesitated again before replying. "Well we've…we've won Elena. Against the vampires. We won the rebellion. I did actually."

Hang on, how long had I been asleep? And why did he look so…worried? "That's amazing!" I beamed, standing up and hugging him before pulling away momentarily, worried. "Did anybody get hurt?"

He shook his head and opened his mouth to speak.

"Oh, people got hurt Elena." Mom interrupted from the corner and when I looked over, her eyes were glistening. "People got hurt but not in a way that can be fixed."

I stared at her, wondering where this bout of madness had come from. "What on earth are you talking about?" I asked, turning to face her. "Wounds heal. Bones are mended. There's nothing to worry about Mom. Everyone's going to be fine."

She shook her head, her eyes filling up with tears as turned on her heel and disappeared from the room. I stared after her until I felt a hand on my shoulder – Dad's, obviously.

"Come on. The rest of the guys are all waiting downstairs, and your help might be needed for a little while – serving drinks and all that."

Wait, what? He wanted to _party,_ even though I had so many questions? Like why I had bite marks on my neck and why I had awoken in a man's shirt and why I had a swelling the size of a golf ball on the back of my head? But he was pushing me firmly forward and out of the room.

"It'll just be for a few hours." He promised as he led me down the long corridor.

A few hours. Well, I supposed my questions could wait until then, right?

It did _not _last a few hours.

As it turned out, there was a never ending stream of LM members all eager to congratulate Dad, who was apparently responsible for the whole victory? (Another question to add to the very long list.) I spent the rest of the day and night rushing in and out of the sitting room, bringing beer and wine and God only knows what else – I didn't have a clue where Mom was. I was starving but I wasn't able to find anything in the kitchen other than alcohol. I eventually resorted to taking a few slugs of an open bottle of champagne to numb the hunger pangs, shuddering as the bitter liquid slid down my throat.

"Elena! We need more of that clear stuff!" I heard someone – Dad – slur from the other room. Every time I had gone back in there, he had taken two glasses for himself, and drank them both and he was now completely out of his head drunk.

By clear stuff, I was guessing he meant vodka, so I lined up a few short glasses on a tray and poured in the ominous stuff quickly, before carefully balancing the tray in one hand and grabbing the glass bottle with the other. I cautiously made my way to the door, took a deep breath and stepped into the madness.

It stunk of sweat and alcohol and I hated it. The couches were lined with men in suits, except their ties were loosened and their shirts were half open. They were all leering at me, and while I knew I should be grateful to these men, I couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted. Why weren't they at home, with their families, as opposed to making lurid comments to a girl who could be their daughter?

I held the tray tiredly and a flock of them descended on it, downing the shots in a matter of seconds. I was about to turn away and flee back to the kitchen but then I felt a clammy hand on my shoulder.

"Just a second, sweet cheeks."

Oh great, another one. I turned around to see Alaric Saltzman smirking down at me. He was drunk too, and there was a wild glint in his eye as he stepped too close to me, his beer smelling breath wafting in my face as he barked out a laugh.

"It's really you!" He chuckled. "I guess our little trick worked then!"

I raised an eyebrow. Little trick? But he was laughing like a hyena and I rolled my eyes.

"Look, I really don't have time for this Alaric so if I could just go back –"

"But wait!" He interrupted abruptly. "Aren't you going to congratulate me on our victory against the leeches? Don't you think it's marvellous?" He turned to grin at a few of the other men, who were listening intently with smirks on their faces.

What kind of a stupid question was that? "Of course it's good." I said slowly, wondering if he wasn't drunk and was simply insane. "Why wouldn't it be?"

For some reason, this caused the rest of the men to cackle. This was all getting too weird. My eyes flicked to Dad, hoping for some kind of help or guidance or whatever. But he was smiling smugly along with the rest, his eyes glassy and unfocused. I turned back to Alaric and found the laughter was gone from his face. His eyes were narrowed as he glared at me.

"I'd keep an eye on this one, Grayson." He called to my father, his eyes never leaving my face. "She's still got a few tricks up her sleeve. I can tell." With that, he grabbed the half full vodka bottle from my hand and took a swig, before turning back to the crowd. The laughter and chatter and roaring gradually returned, getting louder in volume until I wasn't able to think straight. I quickly pushed through them all, not even bothering to try to be polite, until I finally reached the quiet coolness of the kitchen, sinking down against the counter to the floor. "They're just drunk." I told myself firmly, unable to shift the growing feeling of suspicion that something was really, really wrong.

It was at about five in the morning that the last of the LM trickled out of the house, but I didn't stay up to see it. Instead, I had crawled off to bed at maybe three? I just went back to the room I had woken up in. It had a bed and that was all I needed. I hadn't had a brilliant sleep though – I was plagued by dreams of vampires with hypnotising eyes that kept forcing me awake, panting. I just wasn't able to rid myself of the feeling in my gut that something had happened and I just couldn't remember it. It was like there was a big bundle of memories in my head but they were locked away in a box that I didn't have the key for. Eventually I was able to drift off for an hour or so, pushing all thoughts of vampires and humans and everything out of my mind for just a little while.

I was woken up by sharp knocks on the door. Groaning, I slid off the bed – I hadn't even stayed awake long enough to climb under the covers – and opened the door to find Jeremy standing outside, looking me up and down with…was that disgust?

Probably. Nothing would surprise me anymore.

He looked different though. Older maybe, with eyes that looked like they had seen a lot and a frowny downturned mouth. His chestnut hair was still in the same floppy style though and he was still had the same scrawny build that he had always hated – he used to spend hours lifting rocks, cans of food, anything he thought could make him more muscular.

"What do you want, Jer? I was asleep." I grumbled, rubbing my eyes and squinting at him in the bright light.

"Dad wants us all in the kitchen for a family meeting, so hurry up and get downstairs." He snapped before turning and walking away.

My brother had always been a charmer.

I was about to just go back into my room and freshen up a bit or something when suddenly something struck me. I leaned back out into the hallway and called after him.

"Jer, did something happen to me?" I asked and he froze.

_Suspicions confirmed._

"Don't be stupid Elena. What could have happened to you?" He said after a moment, turning back to me.

I shrugged, giving him a reassuring smile. "Nothing. I guess I'm still half asleep. See you in a few."

I quietly shut the door of my room and leaned my forehead against the wood, my head pounding. So something had happened, I just couldn't remember it. But _what? _I mean, Dad wouldn't do something like that to me…would he?

I mean, I could always ask Dad himself. But I had a weird feeling that I shouldn't – not yet anyway. I heard Jeremy calling me again and I hurriedly began to search for something to wear.

I landed down in the kitchen five minutes later, with dishevelled hair and no shoes – I hadn't been able to find any. I was last to the family gathering, because Jeremy, Dad (looking wildly hungover, wincing every time someone made any noise) and Mom were sitting at the oak table in silence. There were bowls of fruit salad topped with whipped cream placed in front of each person, and a spare one in front of the empty chair – although it looked rather…old. I was pleased (I was pretty pleased to see food too, even if it was a bit dodgy looking. I was still ravenous from last night.) to see my mother, even if her eyes were rimmed with red, a sure sign that she'd been crying. Dad sighed at my appearance and gestured to the empty seat opposite her.

"Sit, Elena."

I examined the lot of them carefully as I lowered myself onto the cushioned seat. "Everything ok?" I asked lightly and Dad nodded, glancing at Mom before plastering a smile on his face.

"I've called this meeting to let you all know that, after the latest events of the rebellion, I will be taking up the position of Mystic Fall's governor. I knew it would be the best thing for the family."

Immediately Jeremy whooped and was up out of his seat, clapping Dad's shoulder. (He flinched with pain but smiled weakly up at my excited brother) I beamed at him, last night's events forgotten for a moment as I got up to hug him. Really, how could I have even thought that he would have done something to me? This was my _father. _Everything he did, he did for us. Plus, he had effectively won the rebellion singlehandedly - of course he deserved a night off with his friends. I had been moaning about nothing last night.

Mom said nothing, which we all pretended not to notice.

"That's amazing Dad! Well done." Jeremy said happily as we sat back down.

"I know, I know. The militia decided it's what would be best for the town and of course, I wasn't going to refuse! We'll be moving into a new house next week, and my duties start officially tomorrow!"

"What happened to the last governor though?" I asked curiously, beginning to pick at the fruit salad.

It was like my words had cast a spell or something. I looked up to find that all chipper conversation ceased and total silence had fallen over the table as Mom and Jeremy watched me nervously. Dad was glaring at me suspiciously with narrowed eyes, his fist clenched and a vein throbbing in his forehead.

"He was a vampire Elena. He'll die with the rest of them. Why do you ask?"

_Die? _I didn't realise they were going to just kill the vampires – why on Earth would they do that? I mean, the phrase of an eye for an eye came to mind. But by the looks of Dad's stony expression, it wasn't the time to question his actions. Plus, what was with that reaction? It had just been a question, for God's sake. He hardly thought I was on the vampires' side, right? But judging by the looks being exchanged at the table, that was seemingly exactly what he was thinking.

"I was just wondering." I said lightly and Mom and Jeremy exhaled with relief. Dad's expression softened too and he continued.

"That's another thing I needed to talk to you about. The former governor has now been officially charged with his crimes to the humans of Mystic Fall and is therefore due to be publically…_punished,_ shall we say, today at three o' clock in the town square. Seeing as I'm the governor and you are the governor's family, it is your duty to come and be seen to be at it by the public to show loyalty and union, so I'll expect to see you in the crowd. Understood?"

We all nodded obediently and he smiled at us proudly, picking up his spoon to begin eating the fruit salad. We all followed suit and there was quiet for a few minutes as we nibbled the stale breakfast. The fruit was too soft and the cream too sweet, but we all understood the importance of having any food at all – we were from the Pail, and food didn't go to waste.

Dad's phone beeped and he checked it quickly as he dabbed his mouth with a napkin, frowning. "Look, I have to run. There's been a…well, our prisoner isn't co-operating. I'd better go and check it out, but I'll send a car for you at half two so you can be in the square on time. There are appropriate outfits in the bathroom for each of you, and I expect you to wear them."

He ruffled Jeremy's hair, kissed me on the top of my head and simply sighed at Mom before pulling on his suit jacket and striding out of the kitchen. There was another few moments of silence after he left – none of us knew how to act without a leader. Finally, Mom stood up wearily and began to collect the empty bowls, crashing them down with rather extreme force, her lips pressed together in a thin line. She dropped them in the sink with a clatter – thankfully none of them broke, I was pretty sure that this house and all of its extras were on loan – and stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door after her with a loud bang.

Jeremy and I stared at each other for a second before he got up and followed, although not banging the door with such vengeance. I was left on my own with no real idea of where I was meant to be or what I was meant to be doing. Eventually, I got up to wash the dishes that had been abandoned in the sink but I was only able to make that job last fifteen minutes. My eyes flicked to the clock – it was half ten. Another four hours to go. Giving up, I decided to follow the others and left the kitchen to go up to my bedroom. Maybe I would be able to get a few extra hours sleep, if nothing else.

I sat in the fancy black car's backseat, gazing out the tinted windows. It was just coming up to three o' clock, but the driver continued to assure us that we would arrive on time. The netting on my fancy dress itched and I shifted to make myself more comfortable. The dress was pretty – a circle style dress, pure white pattered with navy blue flowers. My waist was defined by a black belt and my arms were covered with a blue cardigan. Father had apparently insisted that I wear short white gloves, so I had those on as well, and shiny black heels. My hair was twisted into a neat bun out of my face, (another of Dad's orders) adorned with a clip on dark blue hat, with netting covering part of my face. When I had looked in the mirror back in the safe house, I hadn't really known what to think. I looked lovely – like a grown up lady, who knew what she wanted and exactly how she was going to get it. The trouble was, I didn't feel like that. I just felt like _Elena,_ the twenty year old who just wanted to wear her old dress and no shoes. I felt uncomfortable in this fancy dress, like I was pretending to be someone I wasn't.

If I was going to make the clothes choices, I would have picked a deep blue tea dress.

But I _hadn't _got to make the dress choices, and I told myself firmly to stop being an idiot. They were just _clothes _for crying out loud! I could slide back into my usual stuff whenever we got home. Besides, Mom and Jeremy were all dressed up too, Mom in a dusty pink dress that came to her knees and Jeremy in a sharp grey suit. (He looked incredibly smug.) They both looked like perfect versions of themselves as well.

I think I was beginning to realise what Dad had intended the outfits for - to paint a portrait of a family that didn't really exist so that the cracks under the surface were hidden.

The driver must have thought that we were a crazy family. We sat in silence the whole way.

Finally, on the dot of three, we pulled up in the centre of the town square. I stepped out of the car and stared around in awe – I had never been in the Shire. I had only gazed at it from the border of the Pail but it was even more beautiful inside. I didn't get much time to dwell on it however, because I was being pushed through the milling crowd to the front, where a wooden stage had been set up. There was a pretty big group of people here, all people I recognised from the Pail – although none of them looked very happy to be there. I smiled at some of them and they glared back, much to my confusion. After the fourth time this happened, I decided that it would be probably best to turn and keep my eyes front, on the stage. As I examined it like it was the most interesting thing I had ever seen, I realised that I had no idea what 'punishment' consisted of. Really, I couldn't think of anything at all.

My thoughts were answered when I noticed a sturdy metal frame, maybe two metres wide at the back of the stage. It had chains all over it, but the two that caught my eye were the ones hanging from the left and right corner of the top of the frame, mainly because they had things that looked rather like complicated bear traps hanging from them. Why on Earth would that _thing _be…up…there…

A cold sweat broke out on my forehead as I glanced around desperately. _This _was why nobody looked too thrilled to be here.

They were going to torture him. And we were going to have to watch.

Now, don't get me wrong. I wanted the humans to be victorious and the vampires out of Mystic Falls – I wanted that with 100% of my being. What I _didn't _want however, was to watch pain be inflicted on them cruelly, turning _us _into the monsters. When Dad had said that they would all die earlier, I had assumed that it wouldn't be too violent or painful. But this, this looked like something out of a medieval dungeon, designed to make whoever was in its spiked clutches be tortured in the slowest, most painful way possible.

When I looked to my right, Mom was nowhere to be seen. Only Jeremy stood beside me, looking at the stage with a rather bloodthirsty look in his eye. I worried about my brother.

I was beginning to find breathing a bit of an issue, but I didn't have to worry about it for too long because Dad appeared on stage, looking dapper in a different suit to the one he had been wearing this morning. Actually, that had been the suit that he had worn yesterday now that I thought of it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming!" He boomed, smiling down at us all. "It is my great honour to introduce myself as your new governor of Mystic Falls."

There was a bit a ripple of surprise as the crowd digested this and I frowned to myself. Surely the rest of the Pail had _voted _for Dad? I mean…he had hardly just elected himself…right?

"We are here today to get our repayment, if you will, from the former governor of Mystic Falls. Now of course, none of you have probably heard of him – because he left us to starve in the Pail, only dipping in and out whenever he needed a new person to leech off of."

There was a few woops from single members in the crowd – when I looked around, I recognised them as LM members – but apart from that, everyone was quiet.

"He committed horrendous crimes against us as a people and that, my friends, is the reason that we are gathered here today." His pale grey eyes swept over us, as though daring us to disagree. Nobody did, of course.

"And so, my victorious community, we present to you the once governor of Mystic Falls, and the now punished leader of the defeated vampires - Damon Salvatore."

That name. It was familiar. Really familiar.

Then they pulled a man – a vampire – out on stage and I felt a massive plunge in my stomach.

He was muscular and God like, with raven black hair and perfect cheekbones, but he looked…he looked like he was dying. His skin was ashy white, there were dark circles under his eyes and his cheeks were hollow. His shirt was torn open and I could see multiple stab wounds on his body, with dried trickles of blood on his chest. He was weak – they must have poisoned him with vervain or something, as they had to drag him onto the platform with his arms bound behind his back. I regarded all of these with horror, before I made the mistake of glancing at his eyes.

I had to freeze completely. Bright and intensely blue, lined with coal black eyelashes. He seemed to be searching for someone in the crowd and suddenly, his eyes landed on mine.

I let out a sharp gasp as a sudden rush of memories hit me.

_I kept looking at the ground until I felt a cool finger gently tilting my head up until I was forced to look him in the eye. "First timer, huh?" He murmured, making my heart thump, although I wasn't exactly sure if it was because of fear. I nodded silently and he released me. "Well, I'm Damon Salvatore. You're Elena Gilbert, if I'm correct?" Another nod from me. He regarded me quietly before gesturing into the house. "You'd better come in then. The sooner we can get your first time over with, the better."_

_"Tilt your head back darling." He purred silkily and I felt obliged to do as he asked, tilting so my neck was exposed. "There's a good girl. This might feel like a little pinch but then it'll be over…" As he came closer, my heart began to beat faster and I felt him put a hand on my back to steady me. "You're ok, I've got you." He murmured in my ear and I shivered as I felt his sharp teeth graze down my neck before finally settling on a spot. Then he bit down._

"_You've got fire in you Ms. Gilbert."_

_"You're a fighter Ms. Gilbert."_

_"Just remember that if I didn't tell you anything, it was only to make you feel safer."_

_"You're gorgeous."_

And then suddenly, a hazy memory, fainter than the rest. We were in bed together and he was moving above me when he suddenly leaned down to press his lips to mine.  
_"I love you."_

My breathing was coming in short pants now, and I couldn't really think straight. I had met this man – Damon – before. I had…_fallen in love with him_? But surely I couldn't have…not a _vampire_! It felt like there were massive holes in my memory and I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut and try to forget about the whole thing, but I couldn't because his eyes were holding mine, even as he was being dragged to that awful metal thing. Just before the bear traps were locked in place – Oh God, around his _wrists _– he smiled sadly and mouthed something at me.

Had he just said…_firecracker_?

I had to get out of here. Something was massively wrong and I suddenly had no doubts that the LM was the reason I couldn't remember it. Whatever it was, I was going to find out – but there were certainly no clues here. The only thing I had was…_that shirt._

I turned away and began to push through the crowd just as they gasped in horror and I heard his loud moan of pain as they snapped the spiked things around his wrists. I winced but that didn't stop me from breaking into a sprint as soon as I could. I heard a few people calling after me – Jeremy mainly – but I didn't stop, or even slow down. I knew I couldn't really trust anyone at this stage.

I finally skidded to a stop in front of the black car we had arrived in. It was empty – the driver must have been in the crowd. I swore to myself –there was no way I could get home on foot without someone catching me. But I didn't know how to drive obviously so there was no way that I could get away.

I was stuck.

I was going to turn away from the car before I had an idea. I examined the car carefully. I mean really, how hard could it be? It was just a wheel and a few pedals…right?

It turned out I was incredibly wrong.

After a completely terrifying (I nearly crashed 3 times) journey, I finally made it to the stupid safehouse. I hopped out of the car and fumbled with the key Mom had given me, missing the lock a few times before I finally got it open. I shut the door after me, heart pounding, and _ran_ up the stairs to my room. Bursting inside, I made a beeline for the wardrobe and yanked it open, my eyes settling instantly on what I wanted.

The shirt.

I tore it off the hanger and began to search it for clues, trying to ignore how delicious it smelled.

"Come on, you must have a clue somewhere." I muttered angrily, about to give up when I suddenly heard the most joyous sound in the world.

The crinkle of paper.

I finally found the little hidden pocket on the left side of the jacket and pulled out the tiny square of paper. When I opened it out carefully, I realised with a start that it was a letter. To me.

I glanced behind to make sure that nobody was bursting in the door but I was alone in the house. Taking a shaky breath, I turned back to the letter and began to read.

**Make sure to leave a review!**

**Until next time my darlings,**

**x**


	12. Chapter 12

**Oh my gosh, an update! I know so many of you thought I was never coming back or whatever (and I am so sorry) but I promise you that I thought about you every day – plus this chapter is extra long, yay. The amount of time I've been gone is rather inexcusable and I do beg for your forgiveness. It's just sometimes you need a bit of a break. (Plus I've been doing exams, so y'know, I do have to put my education before my writing. Unfortunately.)**

**During my time away however, we've gained some new members to the YQTLF family, so welcome everyone! I love reading your reviews and I'm so grateful that you enjoy this little hobby of mine. **

**I've also gained a new friend on here – DelenaRain. An amazing author (seriously go check her out!) and she has been the one who has been reminding me to update. (Thank you doll!) **

**Also, (sorry, this is a rather talky start but just be patient!) I'm very fond of Tumblr, and I do track the 'You're Quite the Little Firecracker' tag if you ever want to post how you feel on it, etc. We can fangirl together. **

**And last thing, just to clear it up as there may have been a smidge of confusion – Elena has only got a couple of her memories back, hence why she went to run and find the note. **

**As always, enjoy, and thank you so much for reading! 3**

_Dear Elena,_

_If you've found this, it means that there may still be hope. You won't remember writing this of course, but you're just going to have to trust me. _

_Please, please trust me._

_There is a man who loves you more than anything waiting to be rescued, Elena, and he's the most incredible man you've ever met. He makes you feel like you're his whole world – and to be perfectly honest, I think you are. And he's yours. He can take a while to get used to, but he's kind and gentle and funny and gorgeous and he writes books that you can't put down, and he organises special dates where you end up swimming under a waterfall and when you're scared, he'll protect you and when you're angry, he holds you and when you need him, he's always there. His name is Damon Salvatore- he's been taken prisoner though, for his 'crimes'. The problem is Elena, is that he's a vampire and you're a human. Maybe that'll scare you off because you can't fathom the idea but he's not like who you've been raised to believe vampires are. He's good to the core – but sometimes he doesn't remember that._

_You won't remember meeting him either obviously, but he know that he was very lovely and sweet and the story of how you got there is all a bit complicated but he'll explain it._

_He's the person who taught you what love really is and nothing is more important than that._

_You can't remember him though, because your father – and Alaric Saltzman, the creep - instructed that you be compelled by a vampire to forget him, so that you would be the daughter that you were 'meant to be' and so that you wouldn't be able to save him. _

_But you have to, Elena. He's already saved you so many times._

_Your love story with Damon isn't over yet – don't let the ending turn out to be a tragedy. You just have to find him – he'll tell you what to do from there._

_Please make the right decision – you'll have to, as your father wasn't able to. _

_And I really, really hope that you'll still be enough like me that you won't blindly follow the LM to the end._

_All my love,_

_Elena (the one who remembers.)_

_(Oh, and there are others – like Caroline – remember Caroline? She's one of them now, but don't panic. She's still herself– and Stefan and just please don't believe that vampires are actually like what your father tells you. That's all lies – they're the sweetest group of people I've(you've) ever met.)_

The paper fell from my shaky fingers, fluttering to the ground. I stared at the wardrobe blankly for a few moments, _trying _to remember but not really able to. I could tell that there _were _memories, waiting to fill in the blanks but right now…they weren't coming back to me. I just had the few snippets that had come back to me in the town. But I did believe everything in this letter. I wouldn't have written it all – and it was in my handwriting – if I didn't mean it. I didn't know exactly how I had ended up falling in love with a vampire, or indeed, how he had ended up falling in love with me, but the way Damon had looked at me when he was being dragged onto that stage…it wasn't the look a stranger gave another stranger. It had been…_tender._ And what had he called me again? Firecracker? Had that been his nickname for me, when we used to be together? Because I didn't need to know the backstory of the whole thing to know that it was a nickname that made it obvious that he 'got' me. He got my spirit and personality - and one of those vague memories was coming back to me, he had told me that I had 'fire in me.'

Disgust was the next emotion that filled me. Disgust that my father had decided to _change my memories _so that I would join him, disgust that he had brainwashed me as opposed to going against an organisation built on lies and terrifying others. He was meant to care for me, look out for me – not twist me until I was the daughter that he actually wanted, as opposed to the one he was stuck with.

And the rest of them, my family – how could they have let this happen and not said anything? How long had I been with Damon? A day? A week? A month? I had no clue, but by the sound of it, I…well, I had loved him. And he had loved me. Proper love too, not just because he liked my body or who my father was.

He had liked me for _me_. For who I was, for what I stood for.

Nobody had ever loved me properly before.

And now the man who had cared so much for me, and I so much for him, was in danger. The LM had him and were probably torturing him somewhere. Hell, I didn't even know if he was _alive_. And it was all my fault. He could be dead and it'd be all my fault.

And Caroline. Caroline was a vampire now? The thought sent a shock of disgust through me but I tried to focus on what the note had said – she was still herself. And who was Stefan? Clearly I had liked him though. I had liked all of them.

I had to save them. I had to save _him_.

I had to save this man that I barely knew but at the same time, knew so well. The question was, _how?_

I suddenly heard the sounds of the front door being pushed open and loud voices calling my name.

"Gilbert! Where are you?"

Shit. It was a few of the LM – I recognised their voices. How the hell was I going to get out of this one?

"Gilbert! Answer me right now or I'll start shooting up the goddamn house!"

They sounded panicked and I realised with a start that Dad knew that I knew about the whole thing. He must have been watching my expression as he dragged Damon on stage and understood what was happening. That was going to make saving my vampire a whole lot harder.

I was going to have to act if this was going to go the way I wanted it to.

"I'm in here!" I called, trying to make my voice sound as shaky as possible as I looked desperately around the room for something to use. My eyes landed on a vase filled with fake flowers and I hesitated for a moment. Could I really make myself knock someone out with china?

Yeah, I realised, I could. Especially when they had pretty much ruined my life.

I quickly tipped the plastic roses onto the bed and gripped the blue pottery with sweaty palms, standing just beside the door, trying to control my breathing as I heard footsteps approaching.

I was hoping the adrenaline that was meant to give me superpowers or something would kick in soon.

The door was shoved open and a short, sweaty man in a rumpled suit burst in, clutching a gun – his name was James actually. I remembered him from the party night – he drank about two bottles of wine himself and had fallen asleep on the couch.

He didn't see me at first, and he dropped his guard for a moment, lowering the gun. I held my breath, concealed by the door as he bent down to pick up the piece of paper on the ground. His eyes widened as he read and he spun around, opening his mouth to yell for the others.

This was it. Now or never.

I pushed the door away from me long enough to see his startled expression, startling into silence just long enough for me to smash the vase against the top of his head with as much force as I could muster. It hit him with a dull thud, cracking into two on the floor.

He froze, and I thought for an awful moment that it might not have worked and he'd be putting a bullet through any one of my vital organs in the next few seconds but then, his eyes shut and he slumped to a heap on the ground, clearly unconscious.

I didn't waste any time. Anything that he had, I could use for my benefit.

I crouched beside him and with a shudder of disgust, pulled open his sweaty suit jacket.

He had a whole _belt _of weapons, good grief. There was everything, from guns to stakes to little bombs of…was that vervain gas? I didn't even know what half of them would do but I was hardly going to pass up the opportunity to take them. I quickly unstrapped the belt and nudged him so I could pull it off gently without accidently blowing myself up.

The strap was _heavy _and I realised that wearing a dress was hardly ideal, along with wearing high heeled shoes. But I didn't really have any alternatives, so I tightened the belt snugly around my waist and prayed that I wouldn't have to run too far.

Bending down, I pried the gun from the unconscious man's sweaty hands and clutched it tightly, testing its weight. It wasn't too heavy at least – it would definitely be of use.

I nudged open the door, standing back for a moment to ensure that there wouldn't be the barrel of a shotgun pointing at my face, but thankfully, nobody was there. I could hear footsteps from some other point in the house though and I gripped the gun tighter. It would be too dangerous for me to saunter out into the house looking for the guy – I would have to coax him up here.

The question was, how on earth could I get a member of the LM to run up to help me? What could I _say _that would ensure – oh. Right.

I took a deep breath and stepped a little behind the door and screamed at the top of my lungs "VAMPIRE!"

Well that did it. I heard footsteps sprinting up the stairs and I tried to calm my nerves, stepping into my original hiding place behind the door just in time. The door was pushed open and another, taller man burst in, wielding...was that a stun gun? Did the LM have any limit on weapons?

Evidently not.

This time, I didn't wait for him to notice me – instead, I pushed forward quickly while his back was still to me and cracked the butt of my gun against the back of his head. (This whole knocking people out business had kind of become my style. I mean, I didn't want to _kill_ the guy. Not right now, anyway.)

There was no moment of worry with this one – he just collapsed straight to the ground, eyes drooping shut. I did the same shimmying off of the weapons belt with this one as James but instead of holding onto it, I pulled it out to the hallway and hid it in a nearby cupboard. Hesitating for only a minute as I looked at the two unconscious bodies, I pulled the door of my once bedroom shut and twisted the key in the lock before slipping it into the belt of weapons.

I was pretty sure I was on my own in the house now – it was silent, and I was pretty sure if there had been someone else, they would be wondering what on earth had happened to their partners by now.

Running down the corridor to the stairs, I caught a glimpse of the spare bedroom, and noticed its enormous closet. Why on earth would one person need that much space?

It would hardly have extra clothes…would it?

I stepped cautiously into the room to ensure that it was empty, before opening the wardrobe. It was like a soldier's dream – camouflage clothes, bulletproof vests, boots in nearly every size, you name it. I frowned as I quickly sorted through everything – I guess the militia was planning on making an official army too.

Five minutes later, I had slipped out of the over- the-top dress and was instead now kitted out in camouflage khakis, a black tank top and sturdy leather boots. I hid the belt of weapons under a green jacket and quickly shook my hair loose from its bun, ripping off the _stupid _little hat, throwing it on top of the crumpled dress on the floor before gripping the gun tightly between sweaty palms and sprinting as fast as I could down the stairs and out of the house.

It was eerily quiet outside and I peered around nervously. I couldn't help feeling like someone was watching me…

I screamed as a bullet whizzed past my ear, leaping out of the way just in time. Another followed pretty much immediately after, barely grazing my arm.

"Are you insane?" I screeched in the general direction of the bullets, darting behind one of the solid walls of the house.

"Drop your weapon!" Somebody – a man. No, not a man – a boy – yelled back and I caught the tremor in his voice. Wait a second - I knew that voice all too well…it was the voice that had been snapping at me for most of my life after all…

"Jeremy?" I asked in amazement, risking a glance around the side of the house and seeing him pointing a gun at me from a few feet away with shaking hands.

"I said put down your fucking weapon!" He roared wildly, his eyes wide with fear and sweat beading on his forehead. He was squeezing on the trigger of the gun, his hands trembling.

"Ok, ok! It's ok Jer, I'm putting it down!" I dropped the gun to the ground and nudged it away with my foot, holding both hands in the air. He relaxed slightly, although he still looked terrified. And it was at that moment that I realised that he was still my stupid, 17 year old brother, no matter how tough he wanted to be. He certainly wasn't a killer, although it was obvious the LM had tried to make him one.

"What have they done to you?" I asked quietly and immediately the defensive stance was back.

"Done to me? What have they done to you?" He hissed, his eyes narrowing. "You've messed up _everything_! You turned your back on the family, on the humans of Mystic Falls because you're obsessed with some leech! They've messed up your mind Elena! Why can't you see that?"

"_They've _messed up my mind? They're not the ones who erased all of my memories Jeremy. They're the ones who loved me. And I'm not doing this because I _love _him Jeremy. I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do."

He was shaking his head. "You're wrong. They're the bad guys Elena. The LM are the good."

"The Liberation Militia _torture _people, Jer. How does that make them the good guys?"

He shook his head again wildly before changing the subject. "Where's James? And Marcus?"

"They're…well, they're a little…unconscious."

He stared at me, his eyes widening in horror. "You _knocked them out_?" He asked in disbelief and I could see that he was freaking out at the fact that he didn't have backup. But then he steadied himself, raising the gun at me again.

"It…it doesn't matter." He said through gritted teeth. It seemed like he was talking to himself more than me. "I'm under orders to bring you to the LM headquarters, or Alaric said…he said…" His voice cracked and my heart broke into a million pieces. I went to step forward to comfort him or do something but he clearly thought I meant to attack him because he pulled the trigger desperately and a bullet whizzed just past my cheek.

"Stay away from me!" He cried, aiming it at me again. "Just…get in the car!"

Ok, it was time to get out of this situation. I turned away, shoulders slumping so it looked like I had given up and turned towards the car. Just as I reached the door of the shiny vehicle, I unzipped my jacket and grabbed one of the little vervain bombs, spinning around and pulling out the pin out and throwing it a few metres away from him so he wouldn't be too badly injured.

"I'm so sorry Jeremy." I whispered before it detonated and exploded. I opened the front car door quickly, although not before a few pieces of shrapnel cut into my cheek. The grenade releasing a green gas that clouded around him. I knew vervain wouldn't harm him but it would certainly give me a good few moments to escape.

Luckily, the keys were still in the engine of the car, so all I had to do was twist them and slam on the accelerator before the gas clouded my vision too.

I speeded out of the driveway, trying not to crash the car as I nearly had on the journey down here. I was getting better though – I managed to drive in a fairly straight line at least, and I only nearly swerved off the road once. (Or twice.)

As I was driving like a lunatic, it struck me that I didn't really have any clue where I should be going. I mean, Damon could really be anywhere – they would have hardly left him in the middle of the town square. They must have some place where they were keeping him…

I suddenly noticed a car driving towards me on the road. Shit. I slowed down as best as I could and prepared to leap out of it or something but I realised that the person driving was a young man, about the same age as me…

"Matt!" I said in surprise, and he smiled at me, running a hand through his blonde hair. Matt and I had been childhood friends, but I hadn't seen much of him since he began working at his family's carpentry business. They were pretty well off actually – nobody in the Shire would get their hands dirty with such mundane tasks, so it was usually the Donovans who were called out.

"What…what are you doing here?" I asked nonchalantly, preparing to slam my foot down on the accelerator if necessary.

"Well, everything got a little crazy back there in the square. After you left…I mean, people got a little…riotish. The Militia has been sort of controlling everything lately and I guess people are sick of it. So…well, it all got a little out of hand, and I didn't really feel comfortable being there so…here I am."

I squinted at him, trying to figure out whether he was lying or not but his blue eyes seemed genuine enough. He sighed, rubbing his forehead as he had always done when he was tired.

"It's just…I mean, the vampires weren't all that bad, were they? I know a lot of the town thinks so anyway, but the LM have got everyone so _scared_ of going against them that they all follow people blindly."

I stared at him, the gears in my mind beginning to turn. Most of the town? Did that mean a lot of people were _against _the Militia?

Oh man, this could work in my favur.

I realised Matt was waiting for an answer and I snapped back to reality quickly.

"Yeah, well, I'm just headed back there actually. Dad…wants me."

Matt suddenly looked fearful, his eyes widening. "Oh God Elena, I didn't mean to say all that stuff – I mean, it's good that the Militia are doing _something _at least –"

I waved a hand, cutting him off. "Don't stress about it. I won't tell him." An idea suddenly struck me and I leaned forward earnestly. "Hey Matt, what did they do with that vampire guy after things got a little…crazy?"

He frowned, trying to remember. "I think they loaded him in a van and drove him back to headquarters or something. Why?"

I nodded to myself, trying to ignore the excitement rising in my chest. "Headquarters? Where are they?"

_That_ got a strange look. "It's just a bit down the road Elena. Surely your father took you there?"

Shaking my head, I smiled to myself as the plan formulated in my head. "Did Dad go back to the headquarters with Damon or did he stay at the town hall?"

"Damon? Oh right, the vampire. No, he stayed at the town hall; Alaric did too actually. They're trying to calm down the crowd. Do you need them?"

I hesitated, wondering once again if he could be trusted. But this was Matt – a person who I had known since I was a child. If I couldn't count of him, I couldn't count on anyone. And if he was simply acting and did in fact work for the LM – well, I still had some of those vervain grenades. "Matt, I need you to do something for me. I need you to go and find my father and Alaric _and keep them distracted._"

"Why do I need to –"

"I'm going to try to fix this Matt. I'm going to try to fix everything the Militia has screwed up. " I interrupted firmly. "It won't make sense to you, not for a while, but I promise I'll explain later. I just need you to trust me."

This was obviously a pretty big ask of someone who I hadn't spoken to in years but Matt Donovan was known for his easy going nature and loyalty. A mischievous grin spread across his face and he winked at me and I sighed with relief. "_Thank you_. I need you to cause some sort of distraction carefully, so they don't know it's you. Then run up to them and tell them that I need to see them in our house, _urgently_. Got it?"

He grinned again, his dimples appearing in his cheeks. "You can count on me 'Lena." He told me, before backing up the car, doing a quick three point turn (I would have to ask him for driving lessons if I survived this.)

I watched him go with a strange warm feeling in my stomach. At least I knew I had an ally in Matt. But I had to keep going. I had to save Damon.

I carried on down the road in the direction which Matt had gestured to. I was beginning to lose hope when eventually a huge grey building appeared at the edge of the road. It was surrounded by a glass fence that was being guarded at the main gate by a guard. I took a deep breath and drove up to the gates as confidently as I could.

"Do you have a pass m'am?" The guard barked as he strode up to me. I tried not to take too much notice of the gun he was carrying. Instead, I sat up as straight as I could and glared at him with the contempt of a rebel leader's child.

"Sir, I am Grayson Gilbert's _daughter._ I don't need a pass to get into the goddamn building."

He looked at me for a moment – I think he didn't recognise me without all of the frilly dresses and hair. Clearly not wanting to take any chances, he frowned and shook his head, reaching for his radio. "I'm just going to check with the boss that it's ok."

Panic rose through me. He couldn't tell Dad I was here for crying out loud – the whole thing would go wrong! I reached out across the window and gripped his collar.

"Listen to me buddy," I hissed, glaring at him. "My father is in the middle of handling a small scale rebellion right now, and I can assure you that he _won't_ want to be disturbed – or have his own daughter doubted. So I'd be a good little Militia member and let in the future _leader of it._" I snarled the last bit a little and he pulled away from me, looking nervous.

"Right away m'am." He muttered, hitting the button to allow the tall gates to slide open creakily. I shot him a glare and drove on into the compound.

It was eerily quiet – I suppose the Militia wouldn't have all that many members yet. I let the car roll to a stop in front of the door of the main building, hopping out quickly. I glanced behind myself quickly to ensure that there wasn't a team of snipers pointing in my direction but I was alone. Hurrying through the huge glass door, I found myself confronted by only a computer screen and a keyboard.

"What are you searching for?" It chirped in a robotic voice and I rolled my eyes. Of course there would be a fancy computer system, despite the fact that there were people starving in the Pail. I quickly tapped in _Damon_ – nothing came up. I frowned and tried again but no – there was nothing. A horrible thought crossed my mind – what if he was already dead, erased from their system?

_No. _I couldn't think that way. He had to be in this place somewhere. What else could I try? Who else was in the note?

_Caroline._

I quickly typed it in, along with her second name – I still remembered that. Immediately a profile came up – Caroline Forbes, still alive, execution scheduled for…_tomorrow_? Holy shit, I was going to have to work quickly. I scanned through the whole thing before eventually finding her location – the back of the building, in some room that the map told me was behind a big door.

I set off at a sprint, clutching my gun tightly for fear that someone might leap out from the dark shadows of the huge building. But it was empty – maybe they were all out at the town square. I certainly hoped so anyway.

I continued on through the long corridors, my heart thudding in my chest. Finally, I reached the big solid metal door. It smelled of some herb…vervain maybe? Other than that, it didn't look exactly special. It just looked very…strong. I pushed on it, but it wouldn't budge. Typical.

I sighed and began to look through my belt of weapons. There was nothing that I could use to get through it, not unless I wanted to burn the whole place down. (Well, to be truthful, I kind of did want that. But not until I had got the vampires out.)

I banged my fist impatiently on the door, leaning my forehead against it. How on earth was I going to get past this new obstacle?

Wait a second. I frowned and thumped the door again. It felt so…_solid._ Like it was just a part of the wall…

_Hang on._

I probed at the 'edges' of the door. There was no leeway whatsoever, and when I peered at it, it looked like it was stuck on. I couldn't believe it. They had actually _stuck _a door to the wall? I couldn't hold back the laugh that escaped me. The LM thought _this _was going to trick people?

Now all I needed to do was find the _actual_ door.

I pressed around the wall, trying to find a hollow brick or something. I must have looked like a crazy person – I was knocking on the stone, pressing my ear close to it. But _finally_, I found what I was looking for – an empty sound from one of the bricks. Grinning, I knocked on the bricks around it. They were all hollow. So that could only mean…

I pulled and a load of them tumbled down around me. Thankfully, it was only plastic so I wasn't too badly damaged, but I probably wouldn't have noticed. I was too busy staring at the door in front of me.

It reeked of vervain and was made of – was that white oak? However the edges of it were rimmed with metal, as was the door handle that was cool when I touched it cautiously. _Please open, please open_ I thought desperately as I took a deep breath and pushed down on the handle. My heart nearly stopped as it creaked and then groaned as it swung backwards slowly and I stared at the sight in front of me.

The inside of the hidden room was completely different to the door that concealed it. This room was _huge_, with shiny white walls and squeaky clean polished floors that seemed to merge together seamlessly, making my head hurt. There were rows and rows of…oh my god, they were _cells_. Actual cells, complete with bars that were no doubt coated in vervain as well. The room was bright – too bright. Along with the harshness of the stark colour of the walls, there were windows scattered all around the room (reinforced glass, as I discovered) that were allowing rays of sunlight to burst in. I had to blink a few times to let my eyes adjust, but I could hear soft moans coming from those inside the cells. I remembered suddenly that even as a child, I had known that vampires needed 'special rings' to let them walk in the sunlight. Had they been taken off them?

Probably.

I shut the door quietly behind me and cautiously began to tiptoe through the rows of cells. I couldn't really see into the backs of them – most of them were dark but I could sense people looking at me. I hated it – it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I couldn't help but feel extremely paranoid.

"Caroline?" I called out softly, trying not to look too closely at anything – or anyone. "Caroline Forbes, are you in here?"

A soft groan from the back of the room caused my ears to prick up and I began to walk faster towards the sound, feeling more hopeful.

Suddenly a hand reached out and gripped my arm, yanking me towards the bars of one of the cages. I bit back a scream, squeezing my eyes shut as I heard a vampire snarling down at me.

"You stay away from Caroline!" He snapped at me through the bars, his grip getting increasingly tight. "You hear me, you stay away from her!"

"I'm just here to help her!" I gasped and suddenly the hold on my arm dropped completely. I stumbled back, willing my heart to stop pounding quite so loudly as this green eyed man stared at me. He looked sick, exhausted, _starving _with deep purple circles under his eyes. But he was looking at me in…awe?

"Elena." He said and he sounded so hopeful that I felt a knife twist in my stomach. Did I know this man? He looked familiar…but had we ever actually spoken? He looked like he was struggling to stay standing, and his voice was low and weak but he was smiling at me.

"You're…you're with Caroline." I realised out loud. That was where I remembered his eyes from, when Caroline had left the Pail with him. It had hurt so much and I had _hated_ this stranger. But he was looking at me with such kindness that I couldn't help but think I may have misjudged him.

"Are you Stefan?" I asked quietly, remembering the note and his eyebrows furrowed.

"You don't remember me." He frowned. "People said they had erased your memories but nobody believed that your _father_ would do that to you."

I smiled without humour. "Yeah, well, he did. But I'm trying to fix it. How can I get you out of here?"

Stefan shrugged helplessly. "I don't know if there _is _a way out. They have the keys and I can't touch the bars because they're coated in vervain. I'm…well, I'm stuck." His eyes lowered and I felt a stab of desperation.

"There has to be _some_ way to get you out." I insisted, not really wanting to think about the alternative. He shook his head.

"Not from my side. You'd need to get someone to compel the guards to get a key. Well not just anyone. You'd need…you'd need Damon." He examined my expression, clearly curious as to whether I remembered him or not. Keeping my tone bland, I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, where is he?"

"You need to keep going to the end of the row of cells. They've put him in a special cell of his own. He was in a pretty bad state after…what they did to him. I doubt he has much time."

I was already beginning to run to the back of the room. "I'll be back soon!" I promised and he called something back in reply, but I didn't quite catch it. I didn't have time to turn back and find out though – I had to keep going.

The room was a lot bigger than it looked – and that was saying something. I seemed to pass hundreds of cells, each one darker than the last until I finally reached the back wall, running up to the big door. It was made fully of glass – probably to tease him. There was a small gap, big enough for something small to fit through. I didn't know why – maybe they wanted to torture him further? I could work it out later. Right now, he was in there and he needed me. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I peered in.

Oh God. The sight that met me made me want to throw up. Damon was in there alright – but he was still chained to that_ awful _chain contraption. He was bleeding from…well, pretty much everywhere, and his eyelids were drooping shut. He looked sickly pale and weak, like he could collapse at any moment – if he wasn't being held up. I tried to pull open the door handle, but of course it was locked. I banged on the glass desperately, wanting to do anything to ensure that he was still alive. "Damon!" I shouted into the small gap. "Damon, look up damnit!"

It worked. Slowly, painfully slowly, he lifted his head like it weighed a thousand pounds and blinked at me. I saw his lips move and I tried to work out what he was saying but it was impossible. His eyes grew more frantic and his lips moved quicker but before I could try to press my ear against the gap, someone grabbed me by the shoulders and slammed me up against the glass.

"You little bitch." Alaric snarled in my face. "Your father _insisted_ that we didn't just kill you like the rest of the traitors, insisted that once you were fixed, you'd be the perfect little daughter. You've got everyone wrapped around your little finger haven't you? The vampires, the LM, everyone. But I can see what you really are – a little slut who is _determined _to cause trouble. So you see, when that doe eyed little idiot Matt came up to us trying to tell us that you wanted to talk to us at the house, I _knew_ that you had figured it all out. And where else would you be apart from trying to save your precious leech?"

He was pressing his arm against my throat and it was kind of becoming hard to breathe. But I was _not _going to give this creep the satisfaction of looking away. I stared at him determinedly, not breaking eye contact once.

"I convinced your dad to go on without me, that I would meet him there. He doesn't want you dead, not really. But I can assure you that I do."

"The feeling's mutual." I hissed, glaring at him and he snorted.

"Maybe sweetheart, but I'm the one with the power here, right? Look at you. Dressed up like you think you can _achieve _something? You're just a girl. _A girl._ You can't do anything, you can't change anything. But since you seem so intent on being with your bloodsucking friend – well, you can go in there with him. He won't be alive for more than a few hours anyway. We've put a _lot_ of vervain in the air system. So enjoy it while it lasts sweetheart – I'll come to pick you up in a few days. Maybe."

He yanked me forward, twisted a key in the lock and opened the door, shoving me inside before pulling it closed quickly and locking it. He leered at me through the glass for a moment before laughing and turning on his heel, and walking away.

"Saltzman!" I screeched after him, banging on the glass. But all I heard was a distant chuckle and then the slamming of the entrance door. My heart sank and I pressed my head against the glass, shutting my eyes.

But then I heard a small moan and I remembered where I was. Spinning around, I faced the man I had once loved with all of my heart but now couldn't remember.

And he was dying.

And I didn't have a clue what I was going to do next.

**Agh cliffhanger! I really hope you enjoyed it. Please review, favourite, follow if you want and be sure to tag any questions you may have on Tumblr. **

**(And please be gentle – I've been out of the writing groove for a while.)**

**All my love, as always.**

**Hope y'all are having a nice week!**

**Bye my darlings,**

**x**


	13. Chapter 13

**Enjoy! **

I stood frozen for a moment, the only sounds in the cell being his raggedy breathing. His eyes were drooping shut again and the blood was falling drop by drop to the hard stone floor, staining it. Then he muttered something and I pulled myself together.

"You need to stay awake." I said, trying to sound a lot more confident than I felt as I strode up to him and examined the metal chains, only barely holding back the vomit. They seemed to operate on a clasp system – I would be able to open them but it sure as hell was going to hurt him.

Oh, who was I kidding – he was pretty badly hurt right now as well.

"I'm going to get you down from here." I told him, grabbing his chin and tilting his head up so his hazy eyes met mine. "But it's going to…well, it'll be painful. So brace yourself." He nodded slightly, and I hated that his head went limp as soon as I released it, but I didn't have time to focus on that.

"One…two…_three."_ I quickly pushed the metal so the clasp was released from his right wrist with an awful ripping sound. He moaned and half fell to the ground, only held up by the clasp on the other chain, which was now causing him to bleed even more due to the pressure being put on his wrist. I hurried to it and gritted my teeth. "One…two…" "Just _do _it, Elena."

His voice startled me – it was hoarse and weak and soft but God, was it a silky purr as well. I quickly pushed the clasp and it released him with the same horrible ripping sound. He fell like an old rag doll to the blood splattered floor, lying motionless and I tossed the chains to the corner of the room before crouching down beside him.

He looked horrendous. His skin was pure white, as were his lips. His once blue eyes were practically black with hunger and thirst, and there was a sheen of sweat on his forehead. He was bleeding quite heavily too, something that was freaking me out a little bit. He looked so _broken_.

"Damon. _Damon_. Look at me."

His eyes flickered and he tilted his head with some effort so his eyes were bearing into mine. I caught a slight smile on his lips and he shook his head slightly.

"You always did broke the rules." He murmured and my heart sank a little bit when I realised that I had no idea – no memory – of what he was talking about. He was also seemingly able to read my mind however, because the next words that came from his mouth were "But you don't remember me, do you?"

I hesitated, before answering honestly. "I…I remember some of what happened. I know that we met and...I know that I loved you."

"I loved you." He replied immediately and I had to smile at how quickly his answer came – it was automatic. "But how do you _know_ about all of this?"

"I wrote myself a letter." I said softly. "Before they took everything away – my memories – I guess. It was all in there. And when I saw you at the town centre – a few memories came back to me then."

"Ah yes, the town square. You looked like the perfect little governor's daughter, didn't you? All dressed up to the nines, in a pretty outfit and nice hair. Although I must admit – I like this new look a lot better."

I glanced down at my attire. I was blood splattered and dishevelled – not exactly glamorous. "You look like my little firecracker." He smiled, reading my mind again. Then he coughed, and the sound was such a raspy, hacking noise that all of my worry bubbled up again.

"What can I do to help you?" I asked, before realising what an idiot I sounded. "Blood. You need my blood."  
However awful it may sound, the thought of letting him drink from me filled me with dread. Maybe I had done this before, but I wasn't really able to remember it. The idea of being bitten, and then have my blood sucked out of me wasn't exactly thrilling. But then I noticed him shaking his head, and indignation replaced the worry.

"Why not? You _need_ it Damon. I know I'm not exactly wonderful looking right now but –"

I was cut off by his laughing, before it turned into a rasping cough again. "Well, you're still the argumentative woman I knew at least. You think I don't want your blood because you don't _look nice_? I _can't_ drink from you Elena. The amount I need for me to get better will kill you if you don't have the necessary meds, and I'm not doing that. I'd never –" cough. "Hurt you."

I stared at him. "But…you'll _die, _Damon." I whispered in horror, and he shrugged.

"I've lived a good life. Yours, on the other hand, has barely started."

Tears were beginning to well up in my eyes and I blinked them away angrily, glaring down at him. "What are you _talking_ about? You're not going to die Damon, I'm not going to let you –"

"Elena. _Elena._ Yes, you are. You're going to let me. But you? You're going to get out of this. And you're going to _win._ You'll have Stefan, and Caroline and all of them on your side. You can beat them all darling. You don't need me to do it for you."

"I'm not saving you because I need you to win!" I cried. "I'm saving you because I don't want you to die!"

"Darling, you don't remember me. For all you know, I'm an asshole."

I resisted the urge to slap him. "You're _not_. I wouldn't have fallen in love with you if you were!"

He smiled slightly, his eyelids drooping again. "But you don't remember me now firecracker. It'll be ok. You'll be ok without me."

I wasn't able to stop the tears that were rolling down my face now. "I want to get to know you Damon, after this whole thing is over." I begged, pushing his hair off his forehead. "Please, just drink from me. It'll help you."

He shook his head and a burst of anger shot through me. "How are you being so selfish?" I snapped. "I have what you need, just take it! I know you might be tired of this whole war, but that's not an excuse to just lie down and die, you coward!"

He coughed and immediately I felt guilty. "I'm so sorry." I whispered, a little horrified at myself. This man was _dying_ and I was yelling at him? "Damon…you're not a coward. I'm so sorry. But I can't handle this, you can't die on me, not now. We're so close to winning, and saving everyone and you can be the governor again! All you need to do is drink from me and –" I kept rambling until he weakly grabbed my hand.

"_Elena_. I'm not going to. I'm not going to get better." He said gently, and I froze.

"But…I don't…I don't want you to die." I whispered, my voice cracking. "Please…don't...don't put yourself through all of this."

He smiled, and slowly reached up to wipe a tear off my cheek. "Just lie with me. If you don't mind." He said softly and I nodded, carefully turning myself so my back was pressed into the cold, damp stone and I was lined up perfectly with him. Now that I was even closer to him, I could hear his breathing was uneven and shallow.

"I'm so sorry that this happened to you."

The words slipped from my lips before I could stop them and I wanted to curse myself. It was all my fault that this had happened to him! He must hate me right now. He must have wished that he had never met this stupid human girl who had screwed up his perfect life and basically ensured his death. He would be crazy not to despise me with every fibre of his being.

I did anyway.

But he only touched my hair lightly. "I'm not. I'm not sorry for any of it Elena. Because if it hadn't happened, I wouldn't have met you."

I lifted my head to study his – his perfect jawline, his piercing blue eyes, and his raven black hair. Whatever happened, I needed to remember him, I needed to remember everything about him. His eyes caught mine and he held my gaze for a few moments.

"I love you." He murmured and tears welled up in my eyes, because I couldn't honestly say it back because I didn't_ know_ him. But I leaned down and lightly pressed my lips to his.

"Thank you for everything." I whispered against his lips and I could feel his smile.

"Anytime, darling."

Then his breathing slowed completely and when I raised my head, his eyes were shut and I felt my heart tear in two. But I wasn't able to cry – not yet anyway. Not properly. All I could manage to do was put my head lightly on his chest and squeeze my eyes shut, wondering if anything was ever going to feel ok again.

I must have dozed off because I was startled awake by a loud bang.

_What the hell?_

There was another bang, then another and another. I lifted my head slowly and glanced in annoyance at the door, prepared to scream at Alaric Saltzman if it was him who was daring to show his face. That was why the sight of my mother's face peering in startled me completely.

She was alone and still wearing the dress from the town square – why, I couldn't fathom. It was filthy now though – covered in dirt and mud. Her hair was straggly too, and she looked exhausted – and determined.

She banged again and I stood up with a glare, trying not to notice the fact that Damon wasn't breathing anymore.

"What do you want?" I hissed at her through the open panel in the door. She glanced behind me at Damon but I stood in her line of sight. "Are you here to yell at me too? Tell me what a traitor I am, what a _disgrace_ I am because I did the right thing, because I made the right choice?"

Mom shook her head slowly. "Elena, I'm here to tell you that I'm sorry."

Her voice was hoarse and unsure and it caught me off guard. But I quickly regained my composure. "What the hell are you talking about –"

"I'm sorry that I haven't been the mother you needed me to be." She interrupted. "I should have been there Elena. I should have backed you up when you stood up to your father, and god, I should have stood up to that vampire when he came to bring you to the vampire's and I shouldn't have ever let what happened have happened."

I stared at her, what she was saying slowly sinking in. Then anger coursed through me again. "But you did, Mom. You let it all happen, and now I've been left not knowing who I am, what I've been doing for the past few months, _why_ my father is a lunatic and why none of my family would help me when I needed it."

"I know. Trust me, I know. Your father has had me scared witless, and I thought that staying quiet would be the best thing for you, but I can't take it anymore. I'm not going to sit back and let them do what's wrong. I've left him."

Ok, that was a shock. My mother left my father? She could barely get through the day when he was at work – what the hell was she going to do if she wasn't married to him anymore?

"Well, good for you Mom." I said slowly. "But you leaving him doesn't get me out of this cell. So if that's all you came here to tell me, you can go now –"

I stopped when I heard her indignant snort. "You think I left before I could get the key?" She asked in disbelief, dangling a shiny key and I swear to you, a key has never looked so exciting.

"How did you know where I would be?" I asked in amazement, staring at it and she laughed, twisting it in the lock. The door opened with a creak and we stared at each other before I threw myself into her arms, hugging her tightly.

"Please. I've never seen a girl so in love, and even if you couldn't remember him, it wasn't too hard to guess that you would be with him."

I stepped back and glanced behind me at the lifeless body and my heart sank. "I…I think he's dead, Mom. If he's not right now, he will be soon." I whispered and she frowned.

"Well, he's had no blood. You don't have the bite marks so I'm guessing he won't drink from you. Luckily, I took a few of the spare blood transfusion bags from the house." She produced three pouches of a deep red liquid and while normally I would have vomited at the sight of blood, I grinned at her.

"You're the best." I told her as she handed them to me.

"No, I'm your Mom. It's our job to help you. And I'm tired of being too scared to do the right thing."

A noise came from the upper floor of the building and she glanced behind herself warily "Elena, I have to leave. Any chance you have of getting out will be gone if I stay. But I know you can do this baby. And I'm so sorry that it only took me till now to realise it."

"I love you."

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them and I cringed, because I don't think I had ever said that to my mother. But she didn't look surprised or freaked out – she just smiled tearily. "I love you too sweetheart. I'll talk to you soon." She squeezed my hand and then she was gone. I heard her footsteps getting quieter and quieter until she eventually reached the big door and it slammed shut.

I took a deep breath and looked down at the sacks filled with the red liquid in my hands before turning to the vampire on the ground in front of me. "Time to save your ass, Damon Salvatore." I muttered, crouching down beside him and ripping the top off one of the blood bags. I pulled his jaw down so his mouth was open and hesitated for only a moment, before tipping a little bit of the blood into his mouth.

There was no response for a few moments and my heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest but then slowly – oh so slowly – I saw his teeth sharpen into fangs and the veins around his eyes turn black. I held my breath and poured a little more down his throat, waiting for him to wake up. I couldn't exactly pour the whole lot down his throat – he would probably choke and I would become the first girl to kill somebody while saving them.

I continued on at a steady pace, bit by bit, trying not to think about the fact that this was _blood_ I was holding. I came to the end of the first bag and sighed, looking down at him. I was beginning to feel a bit hopeless at this stage to be honest. Apart from making his teeth into fangs and his eyes black, there was no response whatsoever. I examined the empty plastic bag carefully, trying to read the date when suddenly it was yanked from my hands and a pair of black eyes were bearing into mine. I managed to stifle a scream as he pulled me up and pressed me against the wall.

"Darling, you better have more of that stuff or else I'm going to have to take it from _you_." He purred, his eyes feral. "I told you not to let me drink from you, or else I wouldn't be able to control myself, so consider this a life lesson –"

"Here!" I interrupted shakily, shoving the other two blood bags at him. He grinned at me, his sharp teeth glinting and then tore off the top of the sack. I watched, horrified, as he drank it hungrily, before starting on the next one with just as much venom as the second. Had I seen this side of him before? This vicious, out of control side? It was a little terrifying to be honest, and exactly how Dad had described these vampires to be. Had he been…_right_?

No._ No_. I was not going to think like that. Damon wasn't hurting me after all, and for heaven's sake, he was still alive! That was all that I cared about, right?

He eventually finished and tossed the bag carelessly to the corner before glancing at me. "Sorry." He said lightly and I shrugged.  
"That's alright. I'm just glad you're alive –"

I was cut off when he suddenly hugged me. I froze for a moment before slowly wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Thank you." He murmured in my ear and I had to smile.

"I'm so glad you're ok." I whispered to him, squeezing my eyes shut, all previous horrors forgotten.

"Do you want to take back Mystic Falls?"

I pulled away, a grin spreading across my face.

"Let's do this."

**Shorter chapter this time, I know, but so many of y'all wanted an update as soon as possible so here you go! I must dash, but thank you so much for all of your kind reviews and messages – they make my day! **

**Bye my darlings, **

**x**


	14. Chapter 14

**Bonjour my sweets! I'm so incredibly sorry for the lack of updates – I suck and you should all hate me etc. HOWEVER, I certainly don't think you should hate the following update because I spent a freaking ridiculous amount of time on it! So please enjoy and I'll talk to y'all at the bottom.**

_I stared in horror at the small silver gun. "Please." I begged desperately. "Please don't shoot – you can't-" _

_I trailed off, not seeing any signs of giving in. "Please." I tried one last time, my voice cracking. "Don't- don't do this. For the love of God –"_

"_Too late, Gilbert."_

_I realised with absolute horror that nothing I would say would stop this. Fear, panic and everything in between surged through me and I leapt forward, wrenching my arm's out of the guard's grip and lunging, but I was too late. The gunshot rang out through the air, silencing everything else and there was a horrible screech as it hit the intended recipient and a crash as they crumpled to the floor. Blood began to flow from the hole in their chest quickly, too quickly and I stumbled over to them, ripping off my coat and trying to apply pressure to the wound but it kept coming, it wouldn't stop. Blood was getting all over my hands, my clothes, everywhere and it was making me feel sick but I had to keep trying, I had to save them because this was all my fault, it was all my fault…_

_I could hear shouts behind me but I didn't pay any attention to them – I had to save them, I _had _to, this wasn't happening…But the light was fading from their eyes and they had stopped breathing. A feeling of dull dread settled in the pit of my stomach as I realised that they were gone and I wasn't going to be able to save them. And then the dread changed. Fury replaced it. I rose slowly, shakily to my feet and turned around to face him._

"_I'll kill you." I promised softly before lunging. And then chaos ensued._

**3 Hours Earlier**

"So captain, what's the plan?" I asked, trotting after him as he walked through the various cells, wincing as he peered into some of them.

"We're going to have to find blood for the others. Obviously, a spare guard would work perfectly well...want to come along and help me find one?"

"Of course." I grinned and he smirked down at me.

"I'm glad. I don't particularly want to let you out of my sight."

I was about to retort some snappy comment about how I had survived perfectly well on my own – well, leaving out the fact that I had been literally brainwashed – when I suddenly heard footsteps. Damon heard them too apparently, because suddenly I was being slammed against a wall that was hidden by shadows, leaving my head spinning. Damon didn't seem to notice my discomfort – he was on full alert, his stance predatory as he waited. Did vampires always move that fast?

The voices belonging to the footsteps slowly came in hearing distance too.

"I don't understand why we're checking on her." One of them was whining. "Why can't we just leave her to rot, like the others?"

"Because the boss _said _so." The other voice said wearily. "She's so slippery, we have to be positive that she's still here."

"It's a maximum security jail cell, how the hell would she have got out? She's only what, like 19?"

There was silence for a few moments before the complaining started again.

"This is the kid's shift, why have we been lumped with it?"

"He hasn't showed up. Always had my doubts about that boy, him being the sister of the girl and everything. Still, his father's insistent that he's loyal. We'll see."

There was silence for a few moments as they walked towards our former cell, just a few metres from us. I held my breath, waiting for it, _waiting _for them to discover that we were missing.

It was hilarious when they did.

"Em…Mick?"

It was the whiny one. He sounded unsure now. "Mick, where are they?"

"Don't be ridiculous, they're just…shit. _Shit, _Clint. Where the hell are they? "

I couldn't stop the grin from spreading across my face. They were looking into the cell frantically. "She's gone. They're both _gone!_"

The older one – Mick – pulled a cell phone from his pocket, beginning to dial. It was then that Damon stepped out into the light where they could see him. The phone fell to the ground with a clatter.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did we interrupt something?" He asked calmly and they fumbled for a moment, before the whiny one produced a small gun and pointed it shakily at Damon's heart.

"I'll kill you Salvatore! I have white oak bullets!"

"Not happening buddy." I snapped, stepping out from the shadows and pointing a gun at his.

Whiny voice's – Clint – eyes narrowed when he saw me. "Gilbert!" He hissed, taking a step towards me. I jabbed the gun in his direction and he hastily retreated.

"You're both going to pay for the trouble you've caused." He snarled at me and I rolled my eyes.

"You think so? Please. The LM are going to lose and you know it. You're all just too scared to admit it because you've wasted so much of your lives being _brainwashed _into believing that its all powerful –"

"You really think? Just you wait Gilbert –"

"Try me, Clint, see what happens!"

"You want me to fucking show you what I could do to you, you little bitch –"

Damon stepped in, rolling his eyes.

"While this has been extremely interesting gentlemen, we really have to run. But you've showed up just in time – we've needed some fresh blood. I mean, I know normally the vampires wouldn't sink to such low standards, but desperate times call for desperate measures, right?"

Confusion crossed their faces as they tried to work out what he meant. As soon as they did, their faces contorted into fury and they prepared to charge at us but before they could run, he had moved so quickly that he morphed into a blur and had pushed them into the cell we had been in previously, slamming the door shut. I tossed him the key and he caught it easily, locking the lock so that they were trapped. "Good luck gentlemen!" Damon said cheerfully, ignoring their screeches and yells as they banged on the reinforced glass. Somehow he had grabbed the gun the whiny one had had, and now kicked it carelessly to one side. He picked up the cell phone that had fallen to the ground and slid it into his pocket before turning to me.

"Right, Ms. Gilbert. I think it's time we fed my brother and get back on track with our plan."

I nodded, spinning on my heel to make my way to Stefan's cell, but then he spoke, sounding so hopeful that I had to turn around.

"Do you remember Stefan?" He asked, trying to cover up his excitement.

I hesitated before answering honestly. "I've met him again." I offered, feeling guilty and something like pain flittered across Damon's face before he nodded again, the hope in his eyes fading.

"Right. Obviously. Come on then. Lead the way."

I followed his instructions, hurriedly making my way to the cell where I had been earlier, finding Stefan standing by the bars with a slight smile on his face. He reached through the bars and grabbed my hand.

"You managed to save the day again." He said hoarsely, holding onto me for a few moments. Tears threatened to brim up in my eyes – God dammit Elena, you had always been a crybaby – and I clutched his cold palm tightly, blinking a few times and trying to smile.

"Hey, maybe we can get to know each other again once this whole thing is over, yeah?" I asked too chirpily, trying to sound strong and ready for whatever crap was inevitably coming my way soon enough. I was beginning to doubt that this thing ever _would _be over – and even if it did end, what the hell was I going to do with myself then? I was neither a vampire nor a loyal human - all I was, was a messed up girl with daddy issues and a blank memory.

He smiled slightly, releasing my hand. "You'll remember, Elena. We won't need to get to know each other again. We'll just pick up where we left off."

His eyes rested on someone behind me and I turned to see Damon.

"Hello, brother." Damon said lightly, and Stefan grinned at him.

"Damon. Looking dapper, as always."

I held back a laugh. Although his wounds had healed, Damon was still covered in muck and blood was drying into his clothes and hair. I mean, he was still incredibly handsome but you know. He'd looked better.

Damon snorted and responded by reaching past me and grabbing the lock on the door. He squeezed - and then it cracked in two easily. _Hang on. Had he just broken that with sheer strength?_ I stared at him for a minute, my heart thudding. I had never seen this amazing vampiric strength that I'd heard about in person before – not that I could remember anyway. Would he use it on me if I made him angry? Because then I really wouldn't stand a chance -  
_It's fine,_ I reminded myself firmly. _He's Damon. He won't hurt you. Stop freaking out and get on with it._

Stefan stepped out of the cell shakily and I winced when I saw the cuts and bruises up and down his arms and legs. Damon remained expressionless.

"Right. You saw the two gentlemen – they're in the cell at the back." He told Stefan, handing him the key. "Just make sure to leave some for anyone –"

"Where's Caroline?" Stefan asked, clearly not caring about his thirst.

"Stefan, you need to go drink. We'll find Caroline and –"

"I'm not having anything before Caroline does." Stefan interrupted croakily, narrowing his green eyes at Damon, who sighed.

"Alright then. Come on."

With painful stiffness, Stefan began to make his way down the long row of cells, Damon and I following slowly behind him. Finally we stopped outside one and I peered in to see a small girl huddled up in the corner. Her blonde curls were flat and limp against her head and she was sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees, her head buried in the crook of her elbow. My heart nearly broke in two at the sight. She looked so…_broken._

I glanced back at the other two but Stefan was having trouble staying standing and Damon was supporting him. He was able to reach over to break open the lock – again, I winced when it cracked– but judging by his 'Go on then' gesture, coaxing her out was up to me.

I took a deep breath and pulled the door open slowly. It creaked the whole way, but Caroline didn't show any recognition that someone was entering.

"Caroline?" I asked softly, gently putting my hand on her arm as I crouched opposite her. She made no movements at all. I saw her arms were lined with…Jesus, were they _whip _marks?

I was going to kill the lot of them.

"Caroline." I said a little louder. "It's me, Elena. I mean, I can't really remember…anyway, we can help you. Ok? You're safe now. You just need to trust me."

I realised how stupid that sounded as soon as the words were out of my mouth. Why on earth would Caroline _trust _me? My father had put her in here after all. In a way, the whole situation was my fault, something I knew would haunt me for as long as I lived. What on earth had I done to earn her trust?

But gradually, her head lifted and her huge greeny blue eyes met mine uncertainly.

"You're safe." I repeated, unsure of what else to do.

And then suddenly she was grabbing me and there was a moment of fear before I realised that she was hugging me tightly. Tentatively, I wrapped my arms around her, helping her stand up through her sobs.

"They…they…said…you…couldn't…your memory…they said you weren't coming for us!" She cried into my shoulder and I murmured soothing nonsense into her ear to try to calm her down.

"I…I'm here now, ok Car?" I whispered, holding her tightly as we stood in the dingy darkness of the tiny room. She nodded, sniffling as she lifted her head and I wiped away the tears from her face with my sleeve before taking her hand and helping her out of there.

As soon as she saw Stefan, she dropped my hand and went to him, embracing him tightly in a way that was so intimate; I couldn't help but feel a dull ache of jealousy at the love they obviously shared. They seemed so in their own little world that I felt guilty for intruding and quickly looked away. The place where my eyes landed however, were Damon's piercing blue ones.

"Did we ever have that?" I asked softly, the question slipping out before I could stop it. Immediately I was worried that the question would upset him in some way, but all he did was thread his fingers through mine and nod slightly and I sighed, resting my head on his shoulder.

Finally, the two lovers released each other – although still they clutched each other's hands – and Damon gestured to the back cell, where the two guards were still banging and screeching.

"Go wild." He said dryly and they stumbled to the back door, where Stefan opened the lock. I caught sight of their faces changing – their eyes turned black, veins appeared around their eyes and their teeth got sharper, the same way Damon had responded – and I tried not to feel terrified. I glanced up at him, where he was focusing intently on what was going on. I looked back to see Stefan abandoning the key and simply breaking the lock on the door like Damon had earlier. The door swung open and I caught a glimpse of the two men's faces before Stefan and Caroline stood in their way, slamming the door beside him. I heard a snarl, a cry of pain and then I snapped.

"Damon." I said in a low voice, breaking his intense concentration. "I think I'm just going to step outside. I don't…I don't really want to hear this. Or see it, for that matter."

"I'll go with you –"

"No." It came out more irritated than I intended so I added a forced smile. "I'm fine Damon. I'll just be outside, ok? I just…I need a moment."

Damon looked worried but he clearly knew better than to try and stop me. "I'll be just in here." He said softly and I nodded, the smile a bit more genuine this time.

I stepped out into the brightness of the corridor again, blinking a few times to let my eyes adjust from the darkness of the jail cells. The thought of what was going on in that jail cell was making me feel…a little horrified to say the least.

"Pull yourself together Gilbert." I muttered to myself. "They're your friends. They're going to help you."

I mean hell, it wasn't like it was an alien concept to me. Vampires drank blood – we all knew that. For some, it made them faint at the knees, but for most of us, it was a pretty normal concept. We had to be used to it – it was going to inevitably happen to us one day.

But I had never seen vampires looking so…_feral_. The incident with Damon earlier on had shaken me enough, but now Caroline and Stefan…two of the sweetest people (well, Caroline anyway. I was only guessing Stefan, because I couldn't remember him) transformed into…_killers._

_That's what they are,_ a tiny voice in my head whispered. _Killers. Demons. Monsters._

No, no, _no._ I couldn't start to think like this, I couldn't. This was the way the Militia _wanted _me to think and I wasn't going to succumb to that.

I couldn't succumb to that.

I took a deep breath, squeezing my eyes shut and tightening my hands into fists. _They're good, they're good, they're good_, I chanted to myself over and over in my head. No matter what though, I couldn't get the image of terrified faces out of my head. Sure those guards had worked for the LM, sure they probably would have killed me at the nearest chance and sure, they were probably assholes.

But that didn't mean I wanted them to die. Not like that anyway. Not ripped to shreds until there was nothing left.

Jesus.

I pressed my forehead against the cool stone of the wall, hearing footsteps behind me.

"Damon, I'm fine." I snapped, before sighing. "I just…can I have a minute? _Please_."

When he didn't reply, I frowned, turning around.

Something that felt like a fist of ice gripped my heart.

My father was pointing a gun two inches from my forehead. There was a crazed, insane look in his eyes and he was practically twitching.

"Dad." I whispered, although I knew it wouldn't register with him now. The way he was looking at me was the way you looked at a stranger.

"The Liberation Militia will win." He muttered in a monotone before cracking the butt of the gun against my head.

I only had time to whimper and feel the searing pain as it spread across my skull and then I fell to the ground, blackness enfolding me.

...o...

I woke up with a thumping headache, and it struck me that I really needed to stop being knocked out by guns. It had happened far too much these past few days. I winced, moving my hand to my forehead to try to massage out some of the pain or something, I didn't know.

Or at least I tried to, until I found I couldn't because my hands were in handcuffs. Wonderful. I presumed I was going to be back in a jail cell or something. How I was going to get out of this one, I didn't know.

Nothing however, could have prepared me for the sight that met me when I opened my eyes.

Hundreds of terrified faces were peering up at me, although it took a minute before they came back into focus. (I guess I was still woozy or something.) But when they did, I realised that I knew most of them from the Pail. So why were they looking at me with such fear and suspicion?

I shakily stood up, a bit freaked out by the circumstances. I was on a _stage_, in – wait, was this the town square?

Oh God.

This had been where Damon had been earlier on. Which meant…

"Ladies and gentlemen, the traitor of Mystic Falls has woken up! Let the show begin!"

Alaric Saltzman.

I was screwed.

**Jeez guys! Elena really doesn't have any luck, does she? Constantly being knocked out by men with guns…poor girl.**

**This update literally took me ages and I do apologise. I've had exams, and I still do actually but I'm on a week off, so hopefully I'll get the new chapter up soon. I'd say we'll have maybe two left? I was writing and rewriting this one – there was literally a million different ways I wanted to play this, but this was the best way I could get her back to the town square with it being _too _drawn out. I've been out of the writing groove a loooong time, so please be gentle! **

**I want to say a huge welcome to the new followers – your reviews brighten my day and I have such loyal readers, even when I'm a sucky updater. **

**Talk to you soon my darlings,**

**X**

**(Oh and hey – who do you think was shot in the beginning? Let me know – I can't wait to see your guesses.)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Oh my gosh, worst author over here or what? I'm so sorry that this took me so long, but it is about 4000 words so that's a good bit longer than usual. I'll update y'all some more at the bottom, but for now – enjoy! **

***Trigger Warning – There is a good bit of violence in this chapter ***

_"Ladies and gentlemen, the traitor of Mystic Falls has woken up! Let the show begin!" _

_Alaric Saltzman. _

_I was screwed._

Alaric circled me, grinning smugly as he spoke loudly to the crowd. "Just look at her! This _girl _is the cause of all of the trouble, all of the heartache that we have seen these past few weeks! And do you think she's even remotely sorry? Of course not!"

I was kind of beginning to panic now. A quick glance around the stage showed guards at every possible exit and unless the citizens of Mystic Falls were willing to let me crowd surf through them, I was pretty much stuck.

I needed to keep him talking.

"You tortured those vampires." I said, and my voice resonated about ten times louder than what the level I had said it at. Were there…_microphones_ in the stage?

God, Alaric Saltzman was a sicko.

"Well of course I took care of the vampires, Elena!" He was talking to me the way you would talk to a child. "What, are you telling me you think it was a _bad _idea to get rid of the vampires?" I could hear murmurings in the crowd as they looked at me with distrust. No, no, no, this was all wrong. They _had _to be on my side.

"But let's get back on track, shall we?" Alaric sauntered to the front of the stage, talking to them again. "Little Miss Gilbert here – well, why don't we let her explain?" He turned to me, a smug grin on his face.

"Tell the people, Elena. Tell them what you did."

I stared at him, my heart pounding.

"Well?" He gestured to the crowd with a grand sweep of his arm. "Why don't you let them all know what you did?"

What I did? I hadn't got a clue what he was talking about so he continued for me.

"Well, my friends, Elena here went, like the slut she is, went and fucked a vampire just so she could make herself more comfortable, putting _all _of us in danger by –"

"I fell in love!" I interrupted furiously. "I fell in love after this stupid organisation got my father caught and he gave me up as a punishment! You really think I went and found a random vampire just so I could –"

"You betrayed us!" Alaric suddenly screamed in my face, all pretences of being calm gone. "You betrayed us Gilbert, and you went against everything you were raised to believe! You're the reason this plan has gone wrong! Your loyalty should have belonged to the Militia, only the Militia!"

"Don't you dare talk to me about loyalty Saltzman!" I yelled, ignoring the alarm bells in my head that he was out of control. There was a vein throbbing in his forehead and his cheeks were bright red, his eyes bloodshot. "You and the Militia were hoarding food while the rest of us _starved_! You let innocent people _die _while you tried to think of moronic plans to get rid of the vampires and _for what_? You think the situation is any better now, huh? Are the people living well, are they healthy, do they have a roof over their heads? All of your life has been wasted on a stupid idea that, guess what, hasn't even worked!"

I was fuming, so full of rage that I wasn't able to stop the words spilling out of my mouth even though I could see that his fury was about to go over the edge.

"You will _never _be a leader, Saltzman." I hissed and he reached over and slapped me hard across the face.

A gasp rippled across the crowd but I barely noticed it. I slowly turned back to face this madman who was now so clearly insane that I wondered how I had never seen it before. Cheek smarting, I needed to make one last blow before he tortured me or killed me or did whatever the hell he was going to do to me.

"You're _pathetic._" I hissed slowly, dragging out the last word and then I felt the cool metal of a gun press against the side of my head. He had produced a shotgun from his belt and was now clearly going to pull the trigger. I squeezed my eyes shut, wondering what the hell you were meant to think as your last thought.

Eventually I settled on one.

_I'm so sorry Damon._

I felt the joints in his fingers slowly tightening and just as he was about to pull back the trigger, I heard a shout and then a gun fired.

Except luckily, it wasn't the one that was being aimed at my head.

"Fucking hell!" Alaric shouted, and I opened my eyes to see him leaping about a metre away as a bullet whizzed past. I quickly looked to the source of the bullet, expecting to see Damon holding the gun. It wasn't.

It was my mother.

She was still pointing the gun where Alaric had been, clutching it tightly. The crowd had parted like the Red Sea to let her walk through and you could have heard a pin drop.

"Let her go Saltzman." She hissed through gritted teeth, and Alaric looked between us frantically before laughing manically.

"Of _course_! Of course you would be a traitor too, you bitch, it runs in the family I'm guessing –"

He was rambling like a mad man as he waved the gun all around the place. I began to try and feel around the handcuffs, trying to see if there was any way of getting out of them. They were pretty old and rusty, and I was guessing that a little brute force might be able to break them open.

All I needed for that was…Damon.

Mom was moving through the crowd now, still aiming the gun at him. "Let her _go_ Alaric."

I glanced over at him, where he was looking between the two of us quickly and then behind him. The various guards had stepped back, looking a little alarmed. Clearly they had thought that this would be an easy 'kill the traitor girl', with no need for their actual services. I realised with a start that my father was one of them, standing silent a little bit apart from them. He had been there while the two of us had been threatened and abused and he hadn't intervened. He was watching this whole event with a kind of blankness, like he couldn't care less what happened anymore.

Maybe he didn't.

"Get her, you fools!" Alaric spluttered at them indignantly. There was a moment of hesitation as they tried to figure out if they really had to.

"_Now_!" He roared, practically aiming the gun at them. A few of them glanced at each other and then they moved uncertainly forward, reaching for their various weapons. I was about to yell, kick, scream, do anything to distract them but then I heard a whistle from the other side of the square. The guards heads all snapped in the direction of the sound and I spun around and couldn't stop a grin spreading across my face.

Caroline and Stefan were standing there, looking furious. I let my eyes flick to Alaric – he was white as a sheet, staring with unblinking eyes at these two vampires that he had left for dead in a dungeon. "You're an idiot, Saltzman!" Caroline yelled, stepping forward. "You don't mess with our family and expect to get away with it!"

"How dare you, you little _leech_! I'll kill you, I'll kill you all –"

"Don't bother Saltzman." Stefan interrupted. "You think you can win against us? You won't – I can tell you that in advance."

I wanted to laugh in sheer delight at the expression on Alaric's face but I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. I was about to scream but then I felt the familiar purr in my ear and my heart felt light it had lightened about ten loads.

"You need to stop getting yourself into trouble darling." Damon murmured as he grasped my two wrists and yanked them apart, forcing the rusty chain to snap in two. I wanted to throw my arms around his neck to hug him tightly but of course, these weren't exactly the best circumstances. So I made do with squeezing his hand and then turning back to see Caroline standing protectively in front of my mother, and Stefan advancing towards Saltzman, a smirk on his face. Alaric was freaking out, trying to shoot him but kept missing – whether it was because of his own bad aim or Stefan dodging each bullet, I wasn't sure.

Suddenly I heard someone calling from the crowd. When I turned, I saw it was Bonnie, a girl I had known when I was younger. She was a sweet little thing, maybe a few years younger than me. "Alaric, just let them go!" She said, sounding tired. "Look, maybe we can just talk this whole thing out, get Mystic Falls back to the way it was –"

Well, after that, I had no doubts about Alaric's aim with a gun.

Because he pointed the gun at her and shot.

There was a horrible cry of pain as she crumpled to the ground and there was a gasp as the crowd took in what had just happened. I stared, frozen, at the space where Bonnie had been standing a few seconds ago and where there were now people clustered around, crouching down and trying to help her.

I went to climb down off the stage to run to her, to help her or do _something_ but Damon grabbed me by the arm. "It's too dangerous. You're too easy of a target down there." He snapped, not even looking at me – he was keeping his eye on Alaric, who was trying to get around Stefan who had at this stage, grabbed the gun from his hands and had snapped it in two, tossing the two pieces into different parts of the crowd.

"Damon, I have to help her –"

"You won't be able to help anyone if you get yourself killed! The guards aren't exactly in your favour you know. Don't be an idiot Elena."

"But I can't just stay here and –"

"You can." He snarled at me. "And you will."

I glared at him, feeling a surge of anger. "And when have I ever let you be the boss of me, Damon Salvatore?" I snapped at him, wrenching my arm free. "I can take care of myself! This is my fault and I'm going to help her and if you think you can stop me, you have another thing coming–"

"ENOUGH."

Silence fell as my father stepped forward, speaking for the first time since I had arrived.

He looked…_dead_. Literally, there was barely any light in his eyes and his expression was blank.

My mother pushed past Caroline, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Grayson?" She asked shakily, opening her arms and I knew what she was doing – this was her way of offering a last chance at forgiveness, a chance to redeem himself. But he just stared at her expressionlessly, and her arms slowly drooped to her sides He turned to face the silent crowd – even Alaric was quiet for once.

"This is finishing." He said wearily. "This is finishing right now. I want the vampires _killed_, do you understand me?" He turned to the various LM members who were assembled around him. "I want them gone." His eyes flicked to me and his mouth hardened.

"Her too."

I knew it shouldn't – God only knew I was used to feeling incredibly let down by my father –but it still kind of felt like a punch to the stomach that he wanted me dead.

Then again, I sort of wanted him dead too so I guess we were even.

"Grayson."

Mom was advancing slowly towards the stage now, talking in a low, soothing voice like he was a startled animal. Maybe she couldn't see that the life had gone out of his eyes, that the spring had long left his step, that he had _wanted to kill his own daughter._

"Grayson, please talk to me. You don't have to do this."

"It's too late Miranda." He said, not looking at her, his voice hard.

"Too late?" She was getting angry, climbing up onto the platform. "_Too late? _Grayson, I have spent the last twenty two years supporting you, being a good wife to you, raising your children. I put my _life on hold _for you, so you could run off organising this stupid rebellion. It's not too late. It's never going to be too late. You are always going to _owe _me, Grayson Gilbert and I am cashing in that favour right now!"

He was hesitating now – she could see it and her voice softened slightly. I glanced at Damon and saw that his brow was furrowed slightly but he was leaving this to her.

"Grayson, I'm your _wife. _I know we've had our differences but I still love you. I'll always love you, and I want to help you. So let me. _Please_. Either you fight today and lose or you stop this and have far more of a chance of getting the things that you want."

I held my breath as he turned the offer over in his mind – in fact, I think everybody did. Damon slipped his hand into mine and we waited, my heart pounding as we watched the unstable man that was my father.

Then he sighed and turned to face the LM members who were still waiting for further orders.

"That'll be all for today gentlemen."

A wave of relief crashed down over me. Damon squeezed my hand as my mother shot me the smallest of smiles as she approached him. Looking at him now, he looked like a pathetic old man. There were deep lines etched into his forehead and dark purple rings under his eyes. His face was gaunt and his hair was thinning. But he had the expression of a scared little boy as he fell into my mother's arms.

The LM members were kind of filing off the stage confusedly, probably more than a little relieved that there wasn't going to be any proper fighting today. Some of them were looking a little less than happy actually but whatever. They were all going to be jailed anyway.

I had to admit, there was a slight sense of an anti-climax. I mean, it was great and it was wonderful but this rebellion had sort of ended with a whimper, not a bang. It was great for us but it meant that my heart hadn't quite slowed down from anticipation that something else might happen. I tried to take a few deep breaths, reminding myself that I was safe now.

Suddenly I remembered Bonnie and I nudged Damon.

"We need to help the girl who was shot." I said softly and he nodded, but when he looked to the others for help, Caroline was already making her way through the crowd, which had parted like the Red Sea to let her through. Her blonde curls disappeared from sight as she crouched down to help her and I smiled to myself. If Bonnie was still conscious, there would be nobody more comforting than Caroline.

"We'll have to go and pick up Jeremy from the house." I realised out loud to Damon. "The poor kid's been brainwashed."

Damon nodded seriously and then a grin broke out across his face. He wrapped his arms around me tightly and I buried my head in his shoulder, the enormity of what had just been avoided only hitting me now.

"We're going to be ok." He murmured in my ear and I laughed with delight into his shoulder.

Suddenly a voice that I had temporarily forgotten about washed over us and my blood ran cold. I pulled away from Damon to see Alaric breathing heavily.

"Well, this is nice, isn't it?" He snarled, his face blotchy red. "All the family is back together, the rebellion has been cancelled and the vampire couple are back together. Really, just like the cover of a Christmas card!"

Stefan was still holding him, which was comforting at least but there was something even more manic than usual in his eye. He wrenched a shoulder free from Stefan's grip disgustedly and eyeballed us.

"You think this is finished, but it isn't, I can assure you of that –"

"Alaric, it's over." Grayson said quietly from the stage, standing closely to my mother and Alaric spun around to face him.

"Over? _Over? _We spent _ten years _organising this and you're willing to just call it off because your slut of a wife panders to you? You're a coward Grayson – I always knew it would be me running this thing. Luckily for you, I'm not willing to let it die that easily."

Before I could blink, he had pulled a short dagger from his jacket pocket and had plunged it into Stefan's shoulder. Stefan roared in pain, falling to the ground and I realised with horror that it must have been coated with vervain.

Alaric was up on the stage in seconds, gripping my mother's arm and yanking her towards me. He produced a tiny silver gun and held it to her head, holding her tightly.

"You." He hissed, waving the gun at Damon. "You step away from her or I will shoot."

I looked desperately at him, willing him to follow his orders but Damon didn't move and I saw Alaric's finger tightening on the trigger. "Get away from me." I snapped.

"Elena, I'm not –"

"Damon!" I cried, my voice cracking. "Damon, just _get away from me!"_

Unwillingly, he stepped back.

"No, no, no. Off the stage." Alaric insisted, ignoring my mother's whimpers.

I turned around to look at Damon pleadingly and he stepped off the stage fully, looking furious.

Alaric glanced back to Grayson. "You too, traitor. Off. The. Stage."

My father stepped off without any fight, staring at the gun with dismay.

Alaric looked at me then, with a small smug smile on his face.

"Well, it's just you and me again, isn't it Gilbert? Then again, I think it was always going to be."

"Let her go." I said through gritted teeth, trying not to let my voice shake.

"It's a pity how these things play out, isn't it?" He said cheerfully, examining the gun. "I mean, your mother wouldn't have _known_ when she gave birth to you that she was going to end up dying for you. But that's fate I suppose."

"Alaric –"

"You weren't _loyal_, Elena! If you had been loyal, maybe you would have been saved! Maybe _she _would have been saved!" His voice was rising in pitch now. "But you betrayed us, you went against nature and you shacked up with a vampire. This –" He waved his arms around. "This is all of your fault. You do understand that right?"

I stared in horror at the small silver gun. "Please." I begged desperately. "Please don't shoot – you can't-"

I trailed off, not seeing any signs of giving in. "Please." I tried one last time, my voice cracking. "Don't- don't do this. Alaric, don't hurt her, kill me –"

"Too late, Gilbert."

I realised with absolute horror that nothing I would say would stop this. Fear, panic and everything in between surged through me and I sprinted forward but I was too late. The gunshot rang out through the air, silencing everything else and there was a horrible screech as it hit her and a crash as she crumpled to the floor. Blood began to flow from the hole in her chest quickly, too quickly and I stumbled over to her, ripping off my coat and trying to apply pressure to the wound but it kept coming, it wouldn't stop. Blood was getting all over my hands, my clothes, everywhere and it was making me feel sick but I had to keep trying, I had to save them because this was all my fault, it was all my fault, he had been right, it was all my fault…

I could hear shouts behind me but I didn't pay any attention to them – I had to save her, I had to, this wasn't happening, she couldn't die…But the light was fading from her eyes and she had stopped breathing. A feeling of dull dread settled in the pit of my stomach as I realised that she was gone and I wasn't going to be able to save her. And then the dread changed. Fury replaced it. I rose slowly, shakily to my feet and turned around to face him.

"I'll kill you." I promised softly, and he laughed.

"Kill me? Gilbert, you don't stand a chance –"

"_I'll kill you_!" I screamed, lunging at him and clawing, tearing, biting, punching, everything I could possibly think of to inflict pain on this _monster _who had just taken my mother away from me. There was blood on me and I wasn't sure whose it was but I didn't care, all I cared about was hurting him, killing him like he had killed her. He tried to fight back but I was too frenzied with pure white rage to feel anything. There were hands on my shoulder but I shook them off, screeching and kicking at those who tried to pull me away.

Distantly I heard someone calling me. "Elena, you're going to kill him. You need to stop." The voice was soothing, calm.

I was not calm.

"I don't care!" I roared, continuing with my tirade. "He killed her! He killed her! _He…killed…her!"_

Then, much to my fury, I was pulled off of him into the air. I spun around expecting to see Damon but found it was in fact Caroline who was holding me with tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Let me go back! _Let me go back!" _

"_No, _Elena."

I stared at her for a few moments, and then I broke.

"He killed her." I repeated softly and then I fell to my knees. I didn't even have the strength to cry anymore – I stayed there, staring at the ground in disbelief for a while before lifting my head.

Caroline was crouching beside me, biting her lip. The entire crowd was staring at me with a kind of shocked horror. A glance at my father and I saw that his eyes looked totally dead and then my eyes rested on Damon. He looked so _scared_, like I was crazy or something. I turned back to Caroline who was openly crying now.

"He killed her." I whispered and she nodded, pulling me into her arms.

"I'm so sorry Elena. I'm so, so sorry."

I sat on the edge of the stage dejectedly. The square was totally empty and it was getting cold. I didn't mind though - the cold could creep into my bones and freeze me for all I cared. I heard footsteps behind me and then a jacket was slid over my arms.

"You shouldn't do this to yourself." Damon told me softly as he sat down beside me. I said nothing and he sighed, looking up at the cloudless sky. The stars were beautiful tonight – they didn't know what horrors had happened down here a few days ago.

"Alaric's been sentenced." He said to nobody really in particular. "Locked up in a jail cell until the day he dies."

I nodded numbly and then turned to him, asking the question that had been troubling me since it had happened. "Why didn't Caroline let me kill him? I could have."

He laughed without humour. "I know you could have. I don't think I've ever seen a person so capable of killing someone. But I think Caroline couldn't let you do that to yourself, Elena. Killing someone…it breaks you. She didn't want it to haunt you for the rest of your life. She'd know that better than anyone. She remembers being human."

Maybe someday I would understand that but I couldn't imagine a time when I wouldn't want Alaric Saltzman dead.

We sat together in silence for another few minutes before I spoke.

"You know I have to leave." It wasn't a question.

He nodded. "I know."

"I just…I can't stay here Damon."

"I understand."

I went back to looking at the stars. "My memory never came back to me."

"Maybe it will, someday. You never know."

"I don't know if I want it too. That was…that was the old Elena. I can't imagine what she- I - was like before…this."

"She was as kind and loving as you are right now." He said quietly and I turned to him sadly.

"I'm sorry we didn't work out." He told me and I gave him a half smile, cupping his face.

"Maybe we will, someday. You never know." I said honestly, repeating his earlier words before slowly leaning in and gently pressing my lips to his for just a second before pulling away and standing up, pulling the jacket around me.

"It's getting late. I need to go. Take care of Jeremy, will you?"

He nodded and I squeezed his hand before hopping off the stage.

"Hey, Gilbert."

I turned back to see him smiling sadly at me. "Keep in touch." He said, giving me a tiny wave and I smiled properly for the first time in what felt like years.

"You'll have to come and find me, Salvatore." I told him teasingly before walking back into the night, ready to leave Mystic Falls for the first time in my life. Maybe I would come back some day, but for now, my path was unknown.

And I liked it that way.

**I hope you liked it! It was kind of an intense chapter to write, man. I had to listen to a lot of sad music to get into the zone.**

**This isn't the last chapter, don't fret. I'm going to have an epilogue but that might not be for an week or two. **

**Thank you all so much for your continued support. Even when I was on a bit of a hiatus, the amount of lovely reviews and messages that I get daily continues to blow me away and know that I read each and every one of them and get a stupid, goofy smile on my face. **

**Thank you all my darlings, and I'll talk soon. **

**x**


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